The Russian parliament is considering new legislation which could see tens of foreign Russian-language media outlets banned from operating within the country.
Russia’s Federation Council, the upper chamber of the country’s parliament, is debating new laws which would force Russian-language outlets to disclose how they are funded. Media companies receiving money from abroad would be forced to register as “foreign agents,” opening them up to increased state scrutiny.
Leonid Klimov, head of the council’s committee for the protection of state sovereignty, said that the proposed bill would apply to all foreign outlets broadcasting in Russian, even if they were registered abroad.
Outlets which fail to register as foreign agents would then face closure, Klimov said.
The Kremlin has so far played down the proposals, with Presidential Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov telling reporters that the bill still required “significant elaboration.”