Watchdog

The Russian parliament's lower chamber, the State Duma, has approved the final reading of a bill allowing reporters who work for organizations officially listed as foreign agents to be designated as foreign agents themselves.

The bill, approved on November 21, says that individuals may be listed as foreign agents if they collaborate with foreign media organizations and receive financial or other material support from them.

The bill now has to be approved by the parliament's upper chamber, the Federation Council, before President Vladimir Putin signs it into the law.

Russia passed the foreign agent law -- which requires all NGOs receiving foreign funding to register -- in 2012 following the biggest wave of anti-government protests since Vladimir Putin came to power. Putin blamed Western influence and money for those protests.

Critics of the law say it stigmatizes organizations with the designation and would do the same to journalists if they are labeled as foreign agents.

RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said on November 21 that the law "invades" the lives and security of reporters and "is reminiscent of the darkest times in Russia’s past."

RFE/RL has already been the target of the foreign agent law.

On November 15, Russia's Justice Ministry listed RFE/RL's Sever.Realii website as a "foreign agent" saying the decision was based on conclusions made by the parliamentary committee on an investigation into meddling in the country's internal affairs.

"This law appears to be part of a dangerous, escalating effort to target RFE/RL journalists and other foreign media, and a further step toward ensuring that the Russian people only receive the information the Kremlin wants them to," Fly said in his November 21 statement.

In December 2017, the Justice Ministry listed Current Time TV, several RFE/RL services and projects, such as its Russian Service, Tatar-Bashkir Service, Sibir.Realii, Idel.Realii, Factograph, Kavkaz Realii, and Krym.Realii, as well as the Voice of America, as "foreign mass media performing the functions of a foreign agent."

Russian officials have said the law is a "symmetrical response" after Russia's state-funded channel RT -- which U.S. authorities accuse of spreading propaganda -- was required to register its U.S. operating unit under the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

U.S. officials have said the action is not symmetrical, arguing that the U.S. and Russian laws are different and that Russia uses its "foreign agent" legislation to silence dissent and discourage a free exchange of ideas.

Human Rights Watch, a U.S.-based rights group, in 2017 called the law "devastating" for local NGOs, saying more than a dozen had been forced to close their doors.

With reporting by TASS and Interfax

U.S. President Donald Trump has accused Tehran of disconnecting Iranians from Internet access to cover up dozens of killings over the past week amid protests that erupted over fuel-price hikes.

"Iran has become so unstable that the regime has shut down their entire Internet System...thinking the world will not find out the death and tragedy that the Iranian Regime is causing!" he said in a tweet on November 21.

Iranian authorities the same day restoring Internet access in Tehran and a number of provinces, reports say, as the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said calm had returned after days of unrest over fuel-price hikes.

In a statement on November 21, the IRGC praised the armed forces for taking "timely" action against the "rioters," adding that the arrest of their "leaders has contributed significantly to calming the situation."

Meanwhile, the semiofficial news agency Fars reported that "the Internet is being gradually restored in the country" after authorities imposed a near-total shutdown on November 16, making it difficult to get a clear picture of the protest.

NetBlocks, which monitors worldwide Internet access, confirmed that "some connectivity is being restored, although only partially."

It said national connectivity has risen to 10 percent of normal levels -- compared to 4 percent two days ago.

Iran is facing growing international condemnation for its crackdown on the protests, sparked by the Iranian government's decision last week to ration gasoline purchases and cut subsidies.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights cited reports suggesting that "dozens of people may have been killed and many people injured" and Amnesty International said at least 106 protesters were believed to have died.

Iranian officials acknowledged several deaths, including members of the security forces, and described Amnesty's figure as "speculative and not reliable."

They called the protesters "thugs" and suggested the demonstrations were part of a "plot" by Tehran's "foreign foes."

There were also reports saying that dozens of gas stations, banks, shops, and other public property had been damaged or destroyed by protesters.

In its November 21 report, the Fars news agency quoted unidentified sources as saying Iran’s National Security Council approved reactivating the Internet in "some areas.”

"According to reports so far, fixed line Internet has been restored in Hormozgan, Kermanshah, Arak, Mashhad, Qom, Tabriz, Hamadan and Bushehr provinces, and parts of Tehran," it said.

"We again have Internet as of an hour ago," Reuters quoted a retired engineer as saying by telephone from Tehran.

The European Union earlier in the day said it expected Iranian authorities to restore communications and exercise "maximum restraint" in handling the protests, saying the rights to freedom of expression and assembly "must be guaranteed."

Protesters should "demonstrate peacefully," spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said, adding that "any violence is unacceptable."

With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters