Russia has labeled Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty as an "undesirable organization," according to a registry maintained by the country's Justice Ministry, exposing its journalists and others working with the organization, as well as its donors or those who are interviewed by it, to criminal charges.
The latest update of the registry shows RFE/RL was designated "undesirable," an escalation from its previous designation as a so-called “foreign agent,” as of February 2, with a ruling made to officially add it to the list on February 20. According to the entry, RFE/RL is the 142nd entity to be labeled as such.
RFE/RL President Stephen Capus said the designation is the latest example of how the Russian government views truthful reporting as an existential threat.
"Millions of Russians have relied on us for decades -- including record-breaking audiences over the past few days since the death of Aleksei Navalny -- and this attempt to stifle us will only make RFE/RL work harder to bring free and independent journalism to the Russian people,” Capus said in a statement.
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5
Russia Declares RFE/RL An 'Undesirable Organization,' Threatening Prosecution For Reporters, Sources
The "undesirable organization" law, adopted in 2015, was a Kremlin-backed regulation on NGOs and others that receive funding from foreign sources. The label has been applied to dozens of foreign groups since Moscow began using the classification and effectively bans an organization outright.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Russian authorities have labeled dozens of media organizations “undesirable” since 2021.
The list includes several exiled and independent media outlets, including broadcaster Dozhd TV (TV Rain), Meduza, Novaya Gazeta Europe, iStories, The Insider, Bellingcat, and Proekt.
RFE/RL is a private, nonprofit American media corporation funded by a grant from the U.S. Congress through the United States Agency for Global Media. RFE/RL operates in 27 languages in 23 countries -- mainly for audiences in countries where media freedom is limited.
Websites and accounts on several social networks of RFE/RL's Russian-language projects, including the websites of RFE/RL's Russian Service, were blocked by Roskomnadzor, a federal agency that monitors Russian media, in the spring of 2022 for refusing to remove information about Russia's full-scale military invasion of Ukraine.
Despite the blocking, audience interest in the information provided by the editorial staff of RFE/RL and the Current Time TV channel remains significant, amounting to tens of millions of website visits and hundreds of millions of video views on YouTube and other platforms.
SEE ALSO: 'Undesirable' In Russia: What Does The Label Mean And What Are The Consequences?In March 2022, a Moscow court declared the bankruptcy of RFE/RL's operations in Russia following the company's refusal to pay multiple fines totaling more than 1 billion rubles ($14 million) for noncompliance with the "foreign agent" law, which allows authorities to label nonprofit organizations as "foreign agents" if they receive funding from abroad and are engaged in political activities.
Since 2012, Russia has used its "foreign agent" laws to label and punish critics of government policies. It has also been increasingly used to shut down civil society and media groups in Russia since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
RFE/RL says the law amounts to political censorship meant to prevent journalists from performing their professional duties and is challenging the authorities' moves in Russian courts and at the European Court of Human Rights.
More than 30 RFE/RL employees have been listed as "foreign agents" by the Russian Justice Ministry in their personal capacity.