Legislation in Russia threatens to stifle independent media

State Duma, the lower house in Russia's legislature, passed a bill on June 14 that amends the country's criminal code to impose prison terms for vague actions against state security or for communications with foreign groups, according to the State Duma's official website, which includes a draft of the legislation. The draft law may be amended until June 27, according to the website of Duma, following which it will be forwarded to the Federation Council for approval.

Under the proposed legislation, Russian citizens who are found to be in contact secretly with a special service of a foreign state, international organization or foreign agency or with their representatives for the purpose of assisting them in activities that violate the security of the Russian Federation can receive prison terms of up to eight years.

Additionally, the draft carries penalties of up to seven years in prison for those who “publicly encourage activities against the security of the Russian Federation or hamper the exercise of their powers by government agencies and their officials.”

Additionally, the bill would penalize individuals who work abroad for organizations that the government has determined to be "undesirable" within Russia. Officials have designated media outlets, such as independent investigative news outlet Proekt, as "undesirable," making it an administrative and criminal offense for individuals to work with them.

President Vladimir Putin enacted amendments to the Russian criminal code on March 4 that impose prison sentences for spreading false information about the Russian military. The Russian legislature amended the law on March 25 and introduced a punishment for "false" coverage of the government of the country abroad.

It was reported that the State Duma adopted a bill on June 7 creating a unified register of foreign agents, to which authorities can add any journalist or media outlet subject to alleged "foreign influence."