• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Sunday, May 22, 2022
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured

Russia Considers Retaliation Against US-funded News Outlets

Maria Michela D'alessandro by Maria Michela D'alessandro
10/18/17
in Featured, National, World
media foreign agents
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

MOSCOW, Russia – As Washington and Moscow are locked in a bitter information war, media outlets are caught in the crossfire, raising questions about media freedom in both countries.

On October 9, some American media outlets, including Radio Svoboda (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty), Nastoyashee Vremya (Current Time television) and Voice of America, received an official notification from the Russian Ministry of Justice warning that Moscow might restrict their operations. The outlets’ activities may be defined as that of foreign agents, the letter added.

“The activity of your organization may be subjected to restrictions envisioned in the legislation of the Russian Federation,” the letter, signed by Vladimir Titov, Russia’s first Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova teased the letter in a statement on October 8, commenting on the pressure Russian media outlets RT and Sputnik International was facing in the United States.

In a U.S. intelligence report, RT, an international television network funded by the Russian government, was accused of being one of the primary channels used by the Kremlin in its attempt to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Explaining Russian authorities’ line of thinking, Ms. Zakharova cited a 1991 Russian law which states that if a Russian media outlet is subject to restrictions in a foreign country, then Moscow has the right to impose proportionate restrictions on media outlets from that country operating inside Russia.

“Every step toward the Russian media will have a corresponding response,” Ms. Zakharova said in a briefing in September.

Contacted by The Globe Post, the RFE/RL Deputy Director Martin Zvaners reiterated the comment on the situation previously made by the outlet’s editor-in-chief.

“Current Time, Radio Svoboda, the Crimean Desk of the Ukrainian Service, and Idel Realii are journalistic organizations. We trust we will be able to continue our work,” RFE/RL Vice President and Editor-in-Chief Nenad Pejic said in a statement after receiving the letter.

Russian authorities’ warnings came after RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan said U.S. officials had ordered RT to register the outlet as a foreign agent by October 17. Ms. Simonyan also said that if RT registers under the FARA, Foreign Agents Registration Act, its employees would be required to disclose their personal information.

RT Communications Director Anna Belkina later clarified that the registration was demanded from a company that services the RT America network in the United States.

Natalia Burlinova, a political scientist and president of the Center for Support and Development of Public Initiatives – Creative Diplomacy, told The Globe Post that “if such a measure is taken against the Russia Today TV channel then Russian authorities have every right to demand that U.S. media outlets in Russia register as ‘foreign agents.'”

“It’s not a good measure, but it’s a mirror measure,” she explained.

One day after the RT deadline, Russia’s former Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak commented on the situation.

“It is something unprecedented, and the reason for it is absolutely unclear. For a country like the U.S. that has been promoting freedom of the press for its whole life and existence, it is shameful,” he said at the Valdai Discussion Club meeting in Sochi.

While the situation remains unresolved, Russian state-funded RT and Sputnik International, along with the U.S. state-funded RFE/RL and The Voice of America, continue to do their job.

On Wednesday, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office told reporters that it has not yet considered the possibility of declaring a number of U.S. media outlets undesirable organizations.

Mikhail Tyurkin, media expert and a senior lecturer at Saint Petersburg State University, told The Globe Post that he does not think it was a wise idea to register media outlets as foreign agents regardless whether it happens in Russia, the U.S. or somewhere else.

“It only leads to the further limitation of freedom of speech and makes media system less pluralistic and diverse, narrowing people’s opportunities to choose their sources of information,” he said.

“Russian government will be wise enough not to force Western media outlets to register as ‘foreign agents.’ There are absolutely no reasons for such a reaction,” Mr. Tyurkin concluded.

ShareTweet
Maria Michela D'alessandro

Maria Michela D'alessandro

Related Posts

Vladimir Putin
Business

Russia Says Economy Grew 3.5 Percent in First Quarter

by Staff Writer
May 18, 2022
Bucha massacre
World

UN Launches Probe Into Russian Abuses in Ukraine

by Staff Writer
May 12, 2022
China Muslim Uyghurs
Opinion

Unfair Politicization, Corruption, and the Death of Modern Olympism

by Jianli Yang
April 23, 2022
newspaper
Media Freedom

Russian Court Jails Journalist Over Ukraine Report

by Staff Writer
April 15, 2022
Ukraine war
World

HRW Urges Ukraine to Probe Possible ‘War Crimes’

by Staff Writer
April 1, 2022
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
World

Russian Troops Start Leaving Chernobyl: Ukraine Nuclear Agency

by Staff Writer
March 31, 2022
Next Post
Rohingya Muslims Myanmar genocide ethnic cleansing

UN is Looking at Legal Boundaries if Rohingya Violence is Genocide

Russian Socialite to Challenge Putin in 2018 Presidential Election

Russian Socialite to Challenge Putin in 2018 Presidential Election

Recommended

Volkswagen logo

German Farmer Sues Volkswagen Over CO2 Emissions

May 20, 2022
Vladimir Putin

Russia Says Economy Grew 3.5 Percent in First Quarter

May 18, 2022
Mexico missing people

Over 100,000 People Reported Missing in Mexico, Data Reveals

May 17, 2022
Shireen Abu Akleh

Jerusalem Archbishop Condemns Israeli Police Raid at Journalist’s Funeral

May 16, 2022
A Lebanese election official stands at a polling station

New Group Threatens Lebanese Elections… and Potentially Middle East Peace

May 18, 2022
Israel

15 European Nations Urge Israel to Reverse Plans for More Settler Homes

May 13, 2022

Opinion

A Lebanese election official stands at a polling station

New Group Threatens Lebanese Elections… and Potentially Middle East Peace

May 18, 2022
A man holding a gun

Safely Back in USA, Land of Guns and Burgers

May 2, 2022
China Muslim Uyghurs

Unfair Politicization, Corruption, and the Death of Modern Olympism

April 23, 2022
Ukraine war

The Ukrainian Refugee Crisis and the Hierarchies of Western Compassion

April 20, 2022
Chinese leader Xi Jinping

How Wrong ‘How China Can End the War in Ukraine’ Is

April 1, 2022
Ukraine children

The War for Ukraine’s Lives and Minds

March 30, 2022
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post