Russian Court Fines Radio Free Europe $919,000 Over Lack Of Labeling - Roskomnadzor

Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor drew up nearly 400 protocols against Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), due to a lack of labeling as a foreign agent, and a Russian court issued a $919,000 fine on the broadcaster, the watchdog said on Wednesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th April, 2021) Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor drew up nearly 400 protocols against Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), due to a lack of labeling as a foreign agent, and a Russian court issued a $919,000 fine on the broadcaster, the watchdog said on Wednesday.

"Roskomnadzor has drawn up 390 administrative offense reports against RFE/RL and its general director for failure to comply with the requirements of the law on labeling information of a foreign media agent ... The court considered 260 protocols and issued a decision on bringing to administrative responsibility with the imposition of a penalty in the form of a fine in the total amount of 71.

5 million rubles [$919,000]," Roskomnadzor said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, the watchdog said that court decisions on bringing administrative responsibility to RFE/RL for the lack of labeling entered into force.

RFE/RL and its regional projects are included in the list of foreign agent media. Foreign-owned and funded media that operate in Russia are required to accordingly label their content. The purpose of the law is to inform Russian readers that content shared by such media may be pursuing the interests of foreign countries.