New legislation would allow the Russian government to add some domestic news outlets to its list of foreign agents

Russian mass media outlets receiving any foreign money could be labeled foreign agents, thanks to amendments drafted by Leonid Levin, who heads the State Duma’s committee on information policy.

Asked if the new amendments could be applied to Russian media outlets, Levin told reporters, “You could say so.”

Duma Deputy Speaker Pyotr Tolstoy stated earlier on Tuesday that the obligatory criterion for labeling an organization a foreign agent is registration abroad. He later clarified his position to the news agency Interfax, stating, “Foreign and Russian mass media outlets [could be recognized as foreign agents] if they are directly funded [from abroad].”

On November 15, the State Duma plans to pass all three readings of a new law that will allow the Justice Ministry to add foreign media outlets and Russian media outlets with any foreign funding to Russia’s list of foreign agents. The legislation was introduced in retaliation against the U.S. Justice Department’s decision to force RT (Russia Today) to register as a foreign agent in the United States.

In both the U.S. and Russia, foreign agents are required to mark their content as the work of a foreign agent. Since 2014, the Justice Ministry has added 87 organizations to its list of “foreign agents,” including human rights groups, charities, environmentalist organizations, and others, whose work is supported by foreign grants.