In recent weeks, laws on "foreign agents", "fake news" and "discrediting" the Russian army were made substantially harsher.
This statement was originally published on ipi.media on 15 January 2025.
Laws on “foreign agents”, “fake news” and “discreditation” of the Russian army substantially harshened
The IPI global network condemns new laws developed over the last month in Russia that aim to further repress critical voices, including journalists. These repressive laws target critics who fled following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and have since been designated as “foreign agents”.
On 28 December, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill which banned “foreign agents” from accessing passive income in Russia, such as profits from deposits, dividends, copyright payments and renting property. Additionally, “foreign agents” will no longer be able to access money made from selling vehicles or property in Russia.
According to the new law, money received from the now-banned sources will be credited to a special account, which the “foreign agent” will not be able to access. Money on the account will be returned to its owner only once they are removed from the list of “foreign agents”. However, there are very few cases of individuals being removed from the list in Russia.
The law will target hundreds of Russians designated as “foreign agents”, a large proportion of which are journalists who fled the country following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Some of those who fled continue to own property in Russia and will thus no longer be able to receive rent payments and other proceeds from property and other assets detained in Russia.
Earlier in the month, on December 12, the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) passed another bill that is also poised to disproportionately target journalists. According to the law, individuals found guilty of disseminating “fake news” or “discrediting” the Russian army” will be added to Russia’s “list of terrorists and extremists”. The law has not yet been examined by the Russian Council of the Federation (upper house of parliament) or signed into law by Vladimir Putin.
Currently, inclusion on the list of “terrorists and extremists” requires being found guilty on terrorism or extremism-related charges. Journalists and other individuals can also be included on the list following a decision by Rosfinmonitoring, Russia’s state agency for financial control. Inclusion on the “list of terrorists and extremists” leads to all bank accounts of those concerned being blocked in Russia. In practice, accounts of relatives are also frequently frozen.
Lastly, on January 14, the president of the Russian State Duma commission “on preventing foreign influence” announced that the parliament would prepare legislation aiming to “bring to justice foreign agents living abroad”. While it is still unclear what concrete measures this could entail, the aim would likely be to introduce further restrictions on the activities of journalists and other critics designated as “foreign agents”.
“With the new repressive legislation, Russian officials seem intent on stepping up their harassment of exiled journalists and other critics designated as ‘foreign agents’ in Russia,” said IPI Executive Director Scott Griffen.
“Preventing ‘foreign agents’ from accessing their assets held in Russia and freezing their accounts, as well as those of their families, are likely to be effective instruments in isolating these individuals from their country – and their audiences back home. These moves are in effect a serious attack on press freedom and on Russians’ ability to access independent reporting on their country.”
According to the so-called wartime censorship laws, which were adopted in the days following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, any information related to the Russian military’s activities which is not confirmed by Russian authorities is legally considered to be “fake news”, even if it is reported by other verified sources. Violating laws on disseminating “fake news” is penalized by prison sentences of up to 10 years, or up to 15 years in the most extreme scenarios.
The grounds for being found guilty of “discrediting the Russian army” are similar, however “discreditation” is only considered an administrative offence if it is not repeated, and is penalized with fines of up to 50 thousand rubles for individuals, and of up to 500 thousand rubles for legal entities, such as media outlets. If repeated, those found guilty of “discrediting the Russian army” face prison terms of up to seven years.
Initially adopted in 2012, Russia’s law on foreign agents has since been revised several times to include an ever-wider range of potential targets for state-sponsored discrimination. Currently, any organization, media or private individual can be designated as such simply by being declared to be “under foreign influence” by the Russian Ministry of Justice or because of receiving funds of any amount from abroad (or from an entity itself receiving foreign funds). “Foreign agents” are also barred from receiving state financing, teaching at state universities and working with minors, among other restrictions.
