When Did Russia Today Register As A Forgein Agent
RT agrees to annals as an agent of the Russian government
Devlin Barrett
David Filipov
RT, a Moscow-headquartered website and television receiver aqueduct that the U.Due south. government says is a propaganda outlet for the Kremlin, will annals with U.S. regime every bit a strange amanuensis, its editor said Thursday.
The registration follows a months-long back-and-forth between RT and the Justice Department over whether it was required by U.South. law to register as an amanuensis of the Russian government.
"The American Justice Department has left us with no pick,'' RT'due south editor in master Margarita Simonyan said in a statement posted on the organization's website. "Our lawyers say that if we don't annals equally a foreign agent, the director of our company in America could exist arrested, and the accounts of the visitor could be seized. In short, in this state of affairs the company would not be able to work. Betwixt those consequences and registering every bit a foreign amanuensis, we are forced to choose registration.''
She added: "We will continue to work and go along to fight this as long as information technology'south possible.''
Formerly known as Russian federation Today, RT disputes that it is an agent of the Russian government, arguing that it offers alternatives to mainstream news coverage. U.Southward. intelligence agencies have concluded that the network and website push relentlessly anti-American propaganda at the behest of the Russian government.
Russian land-owned television station RT logo is seen at the window of the visitor's role in Moscow on Oct. 27, 2017. (Pavel Golovkin/AP)
[Facebook temporarily blocked RT]
The Russian Embassy in Washington suggested Th that U.S.-based news organizations with reporters in Moscow could face retaliation. In a statement, the embassy said RT was given "an ultimatum to register equally a foreign amanuensis by November. thirteen'' and if the company doesn't comply, the U.S. government is "threatening to start arresting staff'' and freezing bank accounts.
The embassy warned that restrictions on the activities of Russian media "would inevitably entail immediate and reciprocal measures.''
Russian President Vladimir Putin was asked about the controversy at a foreign policy result terminal month. In response to a question from Simonyan, Putin said, "Equally before long as we see any efforts to limit our mass media, we will reciprocate immediately."
Russian news media reported in October that the upper house of the Russian parliament had drawn up a blacklist of at least five U.Southward. media outlets whose activities in Russia could be restricted in response.
A Justice Department spokesman declined to annotate.
A January assessment by U.Southward. intelligence agencies described RT America TV as "a Kremlin-financed channel operated from within the United States, (which) has substantially expanded its repertoire of programming that highlights criticism of declared US shortcomings in democracy and ceremonious liberties.''
The assessment also said RT America "has positioned itself as a domestic U.s. channel and has deliberately sought to obscure any legal ties to the Russian government,'' but behind the scenes, "The Kremlin staffs RT and closely supervises RT'south coverage, recruiting people who tin can convey Russian strategic messaging considering of their ideological beliefs.''
The Foreign Agents Registration Human activity (FARA), passed in the run-up to World War II as a means of exposing pro-Nazi propagandists in the United States, requires that Americans working on behalf of foreign governments register as such with the government.
The requirements are enforced by the Justice Department, but some critics, including the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), have said the department has a poor track record of making firms and individuals follow the law.
The issue of Russian propaganda in the United States has go a hot topic in the wake of the 2016 presidential ballot, as lawmakers and intelligence officials have pointed to thousands of social media accounts directed from Russia that posed as Americans voicing their opinions on domestic political bug. U.South. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia sought to interfere with the U.S. election to help Donald Trump get elected.
Every bit RT'due south work has come up nether greater scrutiny from the Justice Department, the company has accused the The states of trying to infringe on the rights of a free press. Other foreign news organizations operating in the United States have filed under FARA with little appreciable impact on their concern.
Read more:
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When Did Russia Today Register As A Forgein Agent,
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/rt-agrees-to-register-as-an-agent-of-the-russian-government/2017/11/09/bd62f9a2-c558-11e7-aae0-cb18a8c29c65_story.html
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