The State Duma is preparing new bans for foreign agents
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The bill banning advertising on the resources of foreign agents, which the State Duma will consider on Tuesday in the second reading, will soon be followed by other similar initiatives. As Kommersant found out, new restrictions are being discussed in several factions, for example, United Russia (UR) proposes to excommunicate foreign agents from social networks and the Internet, and A Just Russia – For Truth (SRZP) proposes banning the quoting and reposting of their materials. But “New People,” on the contrary, are developing measures to liberalize legislation on foreign agents.
The State Duma Security Committee recommended that the bill banning advertising on foreign agents’ resources and promoting these resources in the media be adopted in the second reading at its meeting on February 22. At the same time, the committee rejected all mitigating amendments from the “New People” (this faction was the only one that did not support the document in the first reading on February 20). As the head of the committee Vasily Piskarev (ER) explained in his Telegram channel, these initiatives “contain excessive regulation, and, in fact, these aspects are already spelled out in detail in other laws.”
“New People,” in particular, advocated for exemption from liability for advertisers if the person who posted the advertisement was included in the register of foreign agents after its publication. They also proposed not to extend the law to mentions of a foreign agent and reposts of his materials if the individual does not receive payment from him for this; oblige the foreign agent to promptly notify everyone with whom he has an agreement to distribute advertising about his inclusion in the register; give the parties the right to terminate the contract if one of them is recognized as a foreign agent.
Even during the consideration of the draft in the first reading, Mr. Piskarev said that this “is not the last step to protect the sovereignty of our country, security and counter interference in our internal affairs.” And the next day, a member of the same committee, Andrei Alshevskikh (United Russia), told the media that he was “discussing with colleagues” new restrictions for foreign agents, in particular on the use of social networks and the Internet.
“There are no disagreements with the current legislation,” Mr. Alshevskikh assured Kommersant. According to him, the initiative is now at the discussion stage: “There is an understanding of where to move, but a little more time is needed to further discuss these issues, and if it is appropriate (and I think it will be), we will put it all on paper and give the concept the status of a bill.” The register of foreign agents includes both those who got into it “by stupidity and mistake,” and those who “do it deliberately,” “and the harm they cause is colossal – their activities are aimed at undermining our internal social, political and economic situation,” the deputy noted. Therefore, legislators “must pass tough laws” and “block the work” of foreign agents, Andrei Alshevskikh is sure. “Let’s hope that the idea that I voiced will find support among colleagues as a concept, and we will prepare and submit it – either from the commission on intervention in the internal affairs of the Russian Federation, or from the security committee,” the United Russia member concluded.
SRZP leader Sergei Mironov agrees with the need to further refine the law “On control over the activities of persons under foreign influence.” It has been in effect for more than a year, and “there is an understanding of what is happening, what needs to be supplemented, what needs to be changed,” the politician told Kommersant. He believes that the main goal of the amendments is “not to limit the rights of foreign agents, but to reduce to zero the possibility of their participation in the information war against Russia and its people.” Mr. Mironov does not propose turning off the Internet for foreign agents, but believes that among the legislative innovations “there may be a ban on quoting, links, reposting messages and materials published by foreign agents.” “In this way, we will prevent the spread of fakes and other tools of enemy propaganda,” explains the leader of the SRZP. “The proposal is still under discussion, but perhaps such measures will be more effective in countering information provocations.”
First Deputy Chairman of the Security Committee Andrei Lugovoi (LDPR) also made new proposals at the Duma meeting on February 20: to oblige not only foreign agents, but also their close relatives to report on their income and expenses, the presence of securities and real estate, and relocants who wished to sell or re-register property in the Russian Federation, force transactions to be completed only in person. As the LDPR press service explained to Kommersant, these ideas are the position of the party and faction, and in general the Liberal Democrats have always taken a “tough position against foreign agents”: strengthening control over their activities “has always been advocated by the founder of the LDPR, Vladimir Zhirinovsky,” and now the deputies “consistently continue that line.”
First Deputy Chairman of the Security Committee Yuri Afonin (Communist Party of the Russian Federation), although he agrees with the need to counter “anti-state activities of foreign agents,” proposes to approach tightening selectively, “so as not to bring the situation to the point of absurdity.” “I don’t know what proposals there are, we need to study them, but it is necessary to balance measures to prevent propaganda work with compliance with the Constitution,” the Kommersant deputy said. “Citizens have the right to freedom of obtaining information. If we are talking about a ban on using the Internet, then this, from my point of view, is a big overkill.”
The New People faction does not support additional restrictions and, as its press service told Kommersant, on the contrary, they are developing a number of measures to liberalize the legislation on foreign agents, which will be presented at the spring session.
When deputies adopted the law on combating foreign influence, they “assumed that foreign agents would be completely marginalized,” notes political scientist Alexei Makarkin. “Indeed, the situation has become seriously complicated for them, and their numbers are increasing. On the other hand, part of society remains interested in them. The situation is reminiscent of Soviet times, when there was a phenomenon of samizdat, and Western “voices” were listened to. At that time, there was no formal concept of “foreign agent,” but informally, cultural figures who emigrated to the West were considered CIA agents,” the expert recalls. In his opinion, “there is a desire to come up with something else” to marginalize foreign agents, but the ban on using the Internet is “apparently just human enthusiasm.” Mr. Makarkin also recalls the decision of the Constitutional Court (CC) of April 8, 2014, which, although it finally approved the concept of “foreign agent,” also contains the conclusion that “any attempts to find a negative context in the phrase “foreign agent”, based on based on stereotypes of the Soviet era, are devoid of constitutional and legal grounds.” “To what extent the new initiatives correspond to the position of the Constitutional Court is a rhetorical question,” sums up the political scientist.
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