“They continue to insult our country and its citizens”

The speaker of the Russian parliament has lashed out at 'foreign agents' and wants to restrict their income.

“491 people have been labeled as foreign agents. Most of them live abroad but receive royalties (income) from Russia. They continue to insult our country and its citizens. They also don't hesitate to say that they use the money to support the Ukrainian armed forces, among other things. This is unacceptable,” the speaker of the Russian parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, wrote on his Telegram channel on November 14.Volodin promised to begin reviewing amendments to the notorious 'foreign agent' law, which Human Rights Watch has described as 'another attack on freedom of expression and legitimate civic activism in Russia'.According to the speaker, the new law will oblige those labelled as 'foreign agents' to open a special bank account for all income from their 'intellectual activity or a trademark'.

Only after the “foreign agent” status is revoked will an individual be able to access the money. Russian MPs also want to force 'foreign agents' to use the same bank account for any income from the sale or rental of a property. Earlier this year, Russian President Putin signed an order banning foreign agents from civil service. The “foreign agent” label was established in Russia in 2012 to be aimed at the NGOs that the government suspects of receiving funding from abroad. Russian Ministry of Justice has been publishing a weekly “foreign agents” list with the names of individuals and organizations.

The use of the label in Russia intensified particularly after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, seen by many experts as a means of suppressing independent journalists, opposition and anti-war activists. Nowadays, the Ministry of Justice's list regularly includes not only journalists or activists, but also artists, comedians, musicians and businessmen.In September, a criminal case was opened against the popular Russian singer Monetochka. According to Russian prosecutors, Monetochka violated the law on “foreign agents”. The singer, who had regularly made anti-war and anti-government statements, was labelled a 'foreign agent' in January 2023. According to Russian legislation, anyone who is labelled as such is obliged to inform the public of this in every post they make.

Monetochka refused to put a “foreign agent” label on her content.