Russian foreign agent law
2012 Russian law / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Russian foreign agent law[lower-alpha 1] requires anyone who receives support from outside Russia or is under influence from outside Russia to register and declare themselves as foreign agents.[1] Once registered, they are subject to additional audits and are obliged to mark all their publications with a 24-word disclaimer saying that they are being distributed by a "foreign agent".[2] The phrase "foreign agent" (Russian: иностранный агент) in Russian has strong associations with Cold War-era espionage. The law has been heavily criticized both in Russia and internationally as violating human rights, and as a tool used to suppress civil society and press freedom within Russia, particularly groups opposed to Vladimir Putin.[3][4][5][6]
This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/07/14/putin-signs-expanded-foreign-agents-law-a78298. (July 2022) |
Foreign agent law | |
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Citation | 121-FZ |
Enacted | 20 July 2012 |
Commenced | 21 November 2012 |
Legislative history | |
Bill title | 102766-6 |
The law was implemented in response to protests against Vladimir Putin's return to the presidency in the 2012 presidential election, and was designed to constrain independent NGOs.[7] The bill was introduced in July 2012 by legislators from the governing United Russia party and signed into law by Putin on 20 July 2012.[8] The new legislation consisted of a series of amendments to the criminal code and the laws "On Public Associations", "On Noncommercial Organizations", and "On Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism".[9] The law went into effect in November 2012, and was actively enforced by the Federal Security Service from February 2013.[10][11][12] Its supporters initially likened it to United States legislation on lobbyists employed by foreign governments.[13] Since its introduction, the scope of the law has been progressively expanded.[14]
At first, the law applied to NGOs receiving funds from abroad that engaged in "political activity". The "foreign agent" designation was first imposed against media organisations in 2017.[15] In December 2019, Putin signed an expansion of the legislation to include private individuals or groups receiving any amount of foreign funding which published "printed, audio, audio visual or other reports and materials".[16] In September 2021, the law was expanded to include Russian citizens who report or share information on crime, corruption or other problems related to the military, space and security services or their employees.[17][18]