The Government of the Russian Federation has considered the submitted draft federal law.

In view of the absence in the draft law of issues set out in Part 3 of Article 104 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the following official comments are being offered.

The draft proposes supplementing the Law of the Russian Federation On the Mass Media (hereinafter, the Law) with a new concept "mass media acting as foreign agents," as well as with provisions concerning the specifics of registration, distribution and monitoring of such media.

At the same time, the proposed amendments do not envisage a mechanism for categorising mass media as promoting the interests of foreign sources, which could cause difficulties in enforcing the law.

In this context, it should be pointed out that the wide scope of discretionary powers is a possible corruption factor.

The draft makes use of the approach to defining foreign agents adopted by the Federal Law On Amending Some Statutes of the Russian Federation Concerning the Regulation of Activities of Non-Governmental Organisations Acting as Foreign Agents. This approach envisages the participation of the given organisation in political activities performed on the territory of the Russian Federation.

However, the draft does not specify the exact activities in which mass media are supposed to be engaged in order for them to be classified as mass media acting as foreign agents, which is particularly relevant to mass media that specialise in news and analysis and publish their output specifically with funds received from a foreign advertiser.

In view of the above, the Government of the Russian Federation does not support the submitted draft law.