Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed amendments into law enabling Russian authorities to list foreign media outlets as “foreign agents.”The Russian foreign agent media law is in retaliation to the U.S pressure on Russian media after the U.S. Presidential election last year.
Within the last two weeks, the new amendment has passed through the upper and lower Russian houses of parliaments.The new law tends to force foreign media to brand news they provide in Russia as work of “foreign agents” as well as proper disclosure of their various source of funding.
The Russian government online legislation database has already published a copy of the law, they also noted that the law has taken effect immediately from the day of its publication.
The Russian foreign agent media law is part of the feud between the Russians and the United States. The Americans claimed the Russians interfered in their last presidential election in favor of Donald Trump.
The Americans have accused the Kremlin of making use of various Russian organizations to influence U.S. voters, the Kremlin denied its involvement in the election and said the restrictions on Russian broadcasters in the United States are an attack on free speech.
The Russian Justice Ministry has published a list of news outlets backed by the U.S. that could be affected by the changes.
