Russian Parliament May Discuss Draft Bill on 'Foreign Agent' Media in January

Rssian parliament's agenda reads it will discuss the draft bill on the regulation of the work of "foreign agent" media in Russia in its first reading in January.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia's State Duma may debate the draft bill on the regulation of the work of "foreign agent" media in Russia in its first reading as early as on January 12, according to the proposal for an agenda published on the parliament's website on Thursday.

State Duma Council will review the proposal on January 11 and decide whether to add this project to the agenda of the next day's plenary session. The draft bill in question was introduced in the State Duma on December 19.

In November, Vladimir Putin signed a law that would allow foreign media funded from abroad to be labelled as foreign agents in Russia. The law came as a mirror response to the measures taken earlier by the United States against Russian media.

In the United States, the RT broadcaster and the Sputnik news agency have been put under pressure, with US lawmakers and intelligence community claiming the broadcasters may have been involved in Russia’s alleged attempts to influence 2016 US presidential election. RT America had to register as a foreign agent in the United States under FARA after the request by the US Justice Department.