Vladimir Putin Urges to End Russian Media Crackdown on Journalists Under Foreign Agent

Over the last year, Russia's major independent media outlets have appealed to Vladimir Putin and other top government officials to cease a crackdown on journalists that have seen some of the country's biggest media labeled as foreign agents or outright banned.

More than a dozen media outlets, including Meduza, TV Rain, and Novaya Gazeta, have signed an open letter to the government urging it to remove individual journalists and their outlets off its blacklists, as well as abolish legislation on "foreign agents" and "undesirable organizations."

Media outlets appealed to Putin

Journalists from TV Rain, the iStories survey website, regional publications, Novaya Gazeta, US-funded Radio Free Europe, Riga-based Meduza, Bellingcat partner The Insider, and others, including prominent human rights activists, appealed to President Vladimir Putin to revoke the 2017 Russian law that designated top outlets and journalists as "foreign agents."

Investigative media Proekt was labeled an "undesirable organization" earlier this year. The letter said that the only "guilt" for Russian media is that they are honestly executing their professional obligations to their readers and that this is a death sentence for independent media. The law also directly infringed freedom of speech and media independence, as per The Republic World.

The term "foreign agent" has bad connotations from the Soviet period, and it forces outlets to identify their status in disclaimers on their output, which they argue is equivalent to defacing their product and drastically reduces advertising income.

For refusing to post the disclaimer after being designated as a foreign agent, Russia fined Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty significantly and blocked its Moscow bank accounts this year, Reuters via MSN reported.

It said that the designations demonstrated that the foreign agent law was in effect, that the legislation was essential to protect Russia from foreign influence, and that journalists and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) could be manipulated.

Kremlin refuted claims calling the appeals "emotional"

More than a dozen media outlets, including Meduza, TV Rain, and Novaya Gazeta, have signed an open letter to the government urging them to abolish the law, which they claim is a death sentence for independent journalism by scaring away advertisers, prospective sources, and reporting partners.

Per WION via MSN, some sites claimed that a foreign agent disclosure had caused them to shut because it had ruined their business models. Russia penalized US station Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and blocked its Moscow bank accounts earlier this year for refusing to publish the disclaimer after being designated as a foreign agent.

The Kremlin dismissed allegations that the media is being persecuted, describing the outlets' appeals as "emotional." According to the report, such designations demonstrated that the law was in effect and that the legislation was necessary to protect Russia from foreign involvement.

Meanwhile, Dmitry Peskov, the presidential spokesperson, assured reporters that "the law should and will exist." Peskov added that the administration has yet to decide how the law would be implemented.

President Vladimir Putin passed two bills into law in 2017 that empowered government officials to label media outlets as "foreign agents." The law was in effect on the day of publication, according to the Kremlin statement. The Russian action was triggered as a precaution after former US President Donald Trump accused Russia of influencing presidential election voters through its media.