俄羅斯將9家美國媒體定爲“外國代理人”

Russia's justice ministry on Tuesday designated nine U.S. media outlets, including the voice of America, as "foreign agents."

The ministry further listed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and several of its affiliates, after warning last month they could be affected.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law in November empowering the government to designate media outlets receiving funding from abroad as "foreign agents" and impose sanctions against them.

Russian officials have called the new legislation a "symmetrical response" to what they describe as U.S. pressure on Russian media. On November 13, Russian state-funded television channel RT registered in the United States under a decades-old law called the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman said FARA is aimed at promoting transparency but does not restrict the television network's operation in the United States.

The U.S. State Department has condemned Russia's law, saying it obstructs press freedom.

"New Russian legislation that allows the Ministry of Justice to label media outlets as 'foreign agents' and to monitor or block certain internet activity presents yet another threat to free media in Russia," State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement last month.俄羅斯司法部星期二將包括美國之音在內的駐俄羅斯美國媒體定爲“外國代理人”。

司法部的外國代理人名單還包括自由歐洲/自由廣播電臺和其它一些媒體。俄羅斯上個月警告他們可能會受到影響。

俄羅斯總統普京11月簽署了一項新法律，授權政府把接受海外資金的媒體機構定爲“外國代理人” 並予以制裁。

俄羅斯官員稱這部新法律是針對他們所稱的美國施壓俄羅斯媒體的對等反應。11月13號，俄羅斯國家資金資助的俄羅斯RT電視臺根據美國數十年前制定的外國代理人登記法案，註冊登記爲外國代理人。

美國駐俄羅斯大使洪博培說，美國的這項法律是爲了增加透明度，但是並不限制電視臺在美國的運作。

美國國務院譴責俄羅斯的新法律，說這部法律阻礙新聞自由。

國務院發言人諾爾特上個月在一份聲明中說：“新的俄羅斯法律允許司法部將媒體定爲外國代理人，監視或封鎖某些因特網活動。這對俄羅斯的新聞自由構成一個新威脅。”