Global News media outlets have suspended reporting in Russia to protect their journalists after Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced a new law that threatened jail terms for spreading “fake news”.
Several organisations, including Britain’s BBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Company and Bloomberg News, CNN and CBS News have stopped broadcasting in Russia after Putin enacted a new law Friday punishing those who spread “false information” about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with sentences of up to 15 years in prison, according to The New York Times.
Russian lawmakers passed amendments to the criminal code making the spread of “fake” information an offence punishable with fines or jail terms and imposed fines for anyone calling for sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
News executives told news agency Reuters that the new law would hamper independent reporting and imperil journalists, and that their organizations must balance the obligation to audiences to report the news with protecting journalists against retaliation
In a message to his staff, Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait wrote, “The change to the criminal code, which seems designed to turn any independent reporter into a criminal purely by association, makes it impossible to continue any semblance of normal journalism inside the country. We will not do that to our reporters.”
The new legislation appeared to criminalise the process of independent journalism, said BBC Director General Tim Davie.
He said, “It leaves us no other option than to temporarily suspend the work of all BBC News journalists and their support staff within the Russian Federation while we assess the full implications of this unwelcome development.
He added that the BBC News Service in Russian would continue to operate from outside Russia.
Meanwhile, Canadian Broadcasting Corp., said it had temporarily suspended reporting from the ground in Russia so it could seek clarity on the new law, The Washington Post, Dow Jones and Reuters are still evaluating the new media law and the situation.
U.S. television newscaster ABC News said it would pause broadcasting from Russia as it assessed the situation.
The West and tech platforms have also banned the Russian news network RT, with the European Union accusing it of systematic disinformation over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to reports.
(Inputs from Reuters)
