Russia Designates U.S.-Backed Broadcasters as ‘Foreign Agents’
"If the U.S. will reconsider the decisions it made recently, then the Russian decisions can be reconsidered, too." In addition to Voice of America
and Radio Free Europe, the Justice Ministry designated seven subsidiaries of Radio Free Europe as "fulfilling the role of foreign agents," according to a statement on its website.
Russia also cracked down that year on foreign-backed nongovernmental organizations
that engaged in the broadly defined area of political activity, requiring them to register as "foreign agents." The 86 organizations currently on that list have to label all information they broadcast to Russian audiences as the product of a "foreign agent." They also have to submit extensive financial reports, and their work is subject to suspension at any time by the authorities.
This followed a report by American intelligence agencies in January
that concluded that the Kremlin was using RT America as a tool "to undermine faith in the U.S. government and fuel political protest." Russian lawmakers and government representatives were infuriated by the decision, rushing through the retaliatory legislation within days.
5, 2017
MOSCOW — The Russian government declared the broadcasters Voice of America
and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty "foreign agents" on Tuesday, in retaliation for a similar action against Russian state-run news outlets in the United States.
At the same time, we remain committed to continuing our journalistic work in the interests of providing accurate
and objective news to our Russian-speaking audiences." During Soviet times, the government jammed broadcasts of Radio Liberty and Voice of America, and banned other Western news outlets.
"Our attitude toward the American media is formed by the truly hostile actions of the American side toward our
media," Aleksei K. Pushkov, a member of the upper chamber of Parliament, told the news agency Interfax.