This is the foreign agent: This is the U.S. and Russia change.

“We are obliged to react to the persecution of Russia's television station Today (RT) in the US”, state Duma deputies declared in mid-November 2017. They have adopted legal changes, under which foreign media can be classified as “agens foreign” in Russia. Even in the U.S., there is a law for foreign agents, Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA). American authorities recently placed RT and Russian radio station Sputnik on this list.

The concept <x0->agen foreign” has in Russian a negative meaning and equals “spiun”.

Even an English English - speaking English Englishman would think it's about spying”, says DW Eliot Borenstein, professor of Slavic languages in New York University. But the difference is that in Russia by this law, they want to stigmatize the entire civil society, while the US MMA census tracks a narrower “synim”. According to Borenstein, Russian radio stations are intended to undermine the American political system. In the political range, a “agen foreign”, however, is not a spy, but a lobbyist whose work is financed by another state.

Similarity and Differences

US PHARE law was passed in 1938 to act against the propagandists of Nazi Germany. The changes made in 1966 were primarily intended to affect political lobbyists who act on orders from foreign countries. These can be both legal and physical.

Russian law for foreign agents is 2012. It is known to be a response to Russian leadership for mass protests in winter 2011 and spring 2012. In his former form, he only touched on nonprofit organizations. But five years later he also expanded to the media.

At first glance, Russian and American law for foreign agents have many similarities, for example, in registering the Ministry of Justice and in the need to present accounting reports. But in Russia, foreign agents must undergo an annual verification and submit a report for their activities every six months.
Some definitions are more severe in American law. For example, copies of information material should be presented to the most late authorities 48 hours after their publication. The FARH law requires propagandistic materials to be marked as such. But in practice these rules do not apply as a report by the Justice Ministry's 2016 inspector.

When a person or an organization is directed or controlled directly by a foreign government or organization, it can be declared a foreign agent in the United States. In Russia, however, money is enough to be classified. That's also true of media. Politically, any media can be declared a foreign agent in Russia.

Different Implementation

But the main difference consists of the fact that registration as “foreign agent” based on American legislation does not bring with it the restriction of activity. The Russian Ministry of Justice on the other hand warned a series of American media about the possible definition of their activities in Russia”.

The violation of the provisions brings you to the U.S. in theory five years in prison or up to $10,000. But since 1966, only seven cases have gone to court, and on one occasion the decision was made to violate the law. In Russia, the law on foreign agents has led to the closure of a series of nonprofit organisations. And the OJF, which is on the list of <x0 foreign agents”, experience discrimination. /Deutsche Welle