Russia is cracking down on journalists who publish information about the war in Ukraine that contradicts what President Vladimir Putin says. The new fake news law signed by him Friday will punish anyone found guilty of disseminating fake news with prison time, and it’s already being heralded as another step toward guaranteeing democracy never takes hold there because truth doesn’t matter anymore.
The Russian government has passed a new law that could sentence reporters up to 15 years in prison if they report what authorities deem as false reports about the military. The legislation was approved by both chambers of parliament and goes into effect soon.
The director-general for the BBC, Tim Davie has announced that they will be suspending work by their journalists and staff in Russia due to new legislation which criminalizes independent journalism.
Our BBC News service in Russian will continue to operate from outside Russia. The safety of our staff is paramount and we are not prepared to expose them to the risk of criminal prosecution simply for doing their jobs.
BBC journalists will continue to report in Ukraine and around the world on Russia’s war, but Russian officials have denied media reports of difficulties by their military. They refuse to describe it as a “war” or even an invasion–instead of calling this conflict “special military operations.”
Russia has accused the West of spreading misinformation about their losses on battlefields in order to turn public opinion against them. Lawmakers provided examples including old photos which were photoshopped so they appear markings from Russian military equipment, despite there being no evidence showing this was actually done at all.
Moscow has been accused of closing down several media outlets and blocking social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter in an attempt to tighten its grasp on Ukraine. Officials said the move came after the company restricted access to state-run media on its platform.