Claire Fox EU debates human rights in Russia and the 'Foreign Agents' Law

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Who can be labeled a “foreign agent”?
What happens to so-called “foreign agents”?
What are experts saying?
Russia must repeal its law on ‘foreign agents’?

Russia has passed legislation that will allow individual journalists and bloggers to be labeled “foreign agents,” a move that critics say will tighten curbs on the media and free speech. At least nine news organizations funded by the U.S. government have been designated “foreign agents” under the original version of the law since it was signed by President Vladimir Putin in 2017 as a retaliation to America’s decision to restrict Kremlin-run media.

The Russian "foreign agent" law, officially "On Amendments to Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation regarding the Regulation of the Activities of Non-profit Organisations Performing the Functions of a Foreign Agent", is a law in Russia that requires non-profit organizations that receive foreign donations and engage in "political activity" to register and declare themselves as foreign agents.
The bill was introduced in July 2012 by legislators from the governing United Russia party and signed into law by President Vladimir Putin on 20 July 2012. The new legislation is a series of amendments to existing laws with changes being applied to the criminal code and the laws “On Public Associations,” “On Noncommercial Organizations,” and “On Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism.” The law went into effect in November 2012, but was not actively enforced until Vladimir Putin instructed law-enforcement officials to do so during a speech to members of the Federal Security Service (Russia) on Valentine's Day 2013, stating that "Any direct or indirect interference in our internal affairs, any form of pressure on Russia, our allies and partners is unacceptable."

Once registered, NGOs are subject to additional audits and are obliged to mark all their official statements with a disclosure that it is being given by a "foreign agent". The word "foreign agent" (Иностранный агент) in Russian has strong associations with cold war-era espionage, and the law has been criticized both in Russia and internationally as a violation of human rights and as being designed to counter opposition groups; supporters of the law have likened it to United States legislation on lobbyists employed by foreign governments.

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Claire Fox (NI). – Madam President, it’s right to condemn Russia’s law dubbing independent bloggers and journalists as foreign agents. It’s a scary and dangerous threat to media freedom and whips up xenophobia in Russia. However, I’ve listened to so many debates in this Chamber that also cheaply blames foreign interference for everything, and there’s a danger of the pot calling the kettle black. If the EU wants the moral authority to criticise Russia, then it better clean up your own house first. How many times in this Chamber have MEPs, Commissioners and motions labelled people who don’t conform to the EU’s agenda as foreign agents of Putin or insinuate that it was Russian bots that controlled the voting habits of the public, for example in the UK’s referendum. And what’s your answer? Always censorship and bans. And all those fashionable accusations of foreign collusion can amount to whipping up anti-foreign xenophobia in our own nation states. It also strips our own voters of their agency, as though they can’t make their own mind up unless it was the Russians what did it. It prevents self-reflection on the reasons for popular discontent, instead lazily blaming foreign subversion.

We should be relentless in criticising Putin’s iron grip over the Russian people and these attacks on democracy and freedom. But sadly, the EU itself shows too little regard for press freedom and popular democracy, instead scapegoating your own failures on foreigners. Beware, look to your own house.