Some local and international media are suspending coverage or operations in Russia in response to the country’s new ‘fake news’ law.
Other large news organisations are currently assessing what the legislation means for their journalists and coverage.
The BBC was the first news outlet to announce a suspension following passage of a law that threatens violators with up to 15 years in prison.
In a statement at just after 7pm Moscow time, BBC director-general Tim Davie said: “This legislation appears to criminalise the process of independent journalism. 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 fill implications of this unwelcome development.”
Jonathan Munro, the interim director of BBC News, explained on Friday evening that the outlet will continue to report on Russia and reporters will not be pulled out of the country. But he said correspondents within Russia will not be allowed to report “for the time being, because they are personally responsible for what they say on air”.
CNN said in a statement on Friday, at around 1am Moscow time, that it would “stop broadcasting in Russia while we continue to evaluate the situation and our next steps moving forward”.
Deadline reported on Friday night that both CBS News and ABC News have also suspended broadcasting from Russia.
A CBS News spokesperson told Deadline the network is “not currently broadcasting from Russia as we monitor the circumstances for our team on the ground given the new media laws passed today”.
ABC News told the outlet that, because of the new censorship law, it was “not broadcasting from the country tonight. We will continue to assess the situation and determine what this means for the safety of our teams on the ground.”
Bloomberg News, “with great regret”, said it had “decided to temporarily suspend our news gathering inside Russia”.
Editor-in-chief John Micklethwait said: “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.”
Canada’s national broadcaster, CBC/Radio-Canada, followed at just before 11.30pm Moscow time.
Its statement said: “CBC/Radio-Canada is very concerned about new legislation passed in Russia, which appears to criminalize independent reporting on the current situation in Ukraine and Russia.
“In light of this situation and out of concern for the risk to our journalists and staff in Russia, we have temporarily suspended our reporting from the ground in Russia while we get clarity on this legislation.”
Other news organisations have told Press Gazette they are in the process of assessing the situation.
A spokesperson for the Washington Post said at about 10.30pm Moscow time: “We are assessing the details of the Russian law and its potential impact on our reporting. We intend to exercise caution while seeking clarity about how these reported restrictions would affect Washington Post correspondents and local staff.”
In the UK, Sky News is understood to be reviewing the implications of the law.
Russian publications remove content
The law is a major concern for Russia’s local independent media. Some have suspended operations altogether, while others have halted coverage of the Ukraine invasion to protect staff.
Russia’s native and internationally-respected Novaya Gazeta said on Friday that it would be removing material from its website on Russia’s military actions in Ukraine due to the threat of criminal prosecution.
In a message to readers, translated and reported by Reuters, Novaya Gazeta said: “Military censorship in Russia has quickly moved into a new phase: from the threat of blocking and closing publications (almost fully implemented) it has moved to the threat of criminal prosecution of both journalists and citizens who spread information about military hostilities that is different from the press releases of the Ministry of Defense. There is no doubt that this threat will be realised.”
Shortly before 10pm Moscow time, Novaya Gazeta reported that a publication called It’s My City had also chosen to do so. Editors said in a statement: “In the current situation, we cannot put journalists at risk.”
Another local publication, The Bell, stopped coverage of the armed conflict in Ukraine. In a statement, reported and translated by Novaya Gazeta, it said: “We continue to work and cover the consequences of what is happening. First of all, economic. From the first day of The Bell, our main task has been to help readers not to drown in a stream of disparate information, to choose the most important and deeply analyze the essence, helping to make the right decisions. As long as possible, we will continue this work further.”
Another Russian news site, znak.com, has suspended operations. A message on its website, translated by Google, says: “We, the editors of the online publication Znak.com, announce the closure. We are suspending our work due to a large number of restrictions that have recently appeared for the work of the media in Russia.”
The Moscow Times said on Friday night that the Russian-language version of its website would be temporarily suspending its work.
More to follow. We are updating this story as new statements and information come through.
Top picture credit: REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
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