The State Duma has received a draft amendment that will allow the Prosecutor General’s Office to liquidate the media. This is another tightening of repressions against journalists in Russia.
The new document provides for sanctions for journalists for duplicating information from other media if their content does not correspond to the propaganda line of the Kremlin.
Until now, the regulator of the Russian telecommunications market could block access to independent media sites. However, the revocation of licenses from individual editions required a multi-stage procedure and a court decision. The amendments introduced to the State Duma suggest that the Prosecutor General’s Office will directly be able to demand the liquidation of media outlets that publish materials that do not correspond to the current propaganda message.
The prosecutor’s office will also be able to ban the work of foreign media outlets operating in Russia, including the collection of accreditations from journalists.
As of March 5, the Russian Federation has legislation in place that imposes heavy fines and imprisonment for people who publish information that differs from that provided by the Kremlin.