Russian President Vladimir Putin’s team vowed to impose “tit-for-tat” pressure on American media outlets, following the forced registration of a Kremlin-run outlet as a foreign agent in the U.S.
“Any encroachment on the freedom of Russian media abroad is not and won’t be left without a strong condemnation and a tit-for-tat response of Moscow,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday, according to state-run media.
Peskov’s threat follows the registration of a company that manages RT, formerly known as Russia Today, pursuant to Justice Department demands. Russian officials are responding by passing legislation that would allow the government to force western-based media outlets to register as foreign agents or face steep fines.
“The approved bill will make it possible to express our reaction in due time,” Peskov said after the Russian parliament’s lower chamber passed a bill that would give Putin that authority.
T&R Productions, the corporation that operates RT, was ordered to register after U.S. intelligence agencies identified the outlet as a key player in distributing Russian propaganda during the 2016 presidential elections. T&R Productions is run by a Russian government agency.
“Americans have a right to know who is acting in the United States to influence the U.S. government or public on behalf of foreign principals,” acting Assistant Attorney General Dana Boente said Monday.
The Russian law, as written, could be used to force the registration of media outlets that do not have any government ties. It would apply to outlets funded by “foreign-based and international organizations, foreign citizens and persons without citizenship or any other persons acting on behalf of foreign citizens and organizations,” according to Russian media.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s team maintains that the Russian proposal is harsher than American law.
“Russia’s foreign agent law has been interpreted to apply to organizations that receive even minimal funding from any foreign sources, government or private, and engage in political activity, defined so broadly as it covers nearly all civic advocacy,” spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in October. “When the United States tells someone to register under a foreign agent requirement, we don’t impact or affect the ability of them to report news and information. We just have them register. It’s as simple as that. Russia handles things very differently.”
