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State Duma commission concludes Meduza, BBC violated Russian law

The Commission began its work in August after reports of unlawful actions by several foreign diplomats and media outlets in the course of unsanctioned protests

MOSCOW, October 17. /TASS/. Russian State Duma Commission on Foreign Interference in Russia’s Internal Affairs has concluded that Meduza, BBC Russian Service, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and several other foreign media outlets violated Russian law during the local electoral campaign. The commission has sent the results of its investigation to Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor and to the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office, head of the commission Vasily Piskarev told reporters on Thursday.

"Today, we discussed the law violations we detected in other foreign media outlets, such as Radio Free Europe, Current Time, Meduza, BBC Russian Service, MBK media, Voice of America. Today, a representative of the body monitoring the implementation of the media law confirmed that these media outlets violated laws during the electoral campaign, on voting day and during the election silence," the MP said.

"This is why we have prepared the materials and sent them to Roskomnadzor and to the Prosecutor General’s Office with the approval of the commission to take response measures," Piskarev added.

The Russian State Duma Commission on Foreign Interference in Russia’s Internal Affairs began its work in August after reports of unlawful actions by several foreign diplomats and media outlets in the course of unsanctioned protests that took place in the run-up to the Moscow State Duma election.

In late September, the commission’s head Vasily Piskarev informed that German media outlet Deutsche Welle had violated Russian law during the outlet’s coverage of Moscow rallies in the run-up to the local election. "Deutsche Welle has violated the law that regulates the electoral process," Piskarev stated. He reminded that foreign legal entities are prohibited from participating in electoral campaigns. "This is why Deutsche Welle has displayed signs of violating the administrative code," the MP confirmed. The media outlet "systematically provided its platforms for other groups and individuals to call on the public to participate in unsanctioned actions and unauthorized rallies," he added. Deutsche Welle refuted the commission’s allegations.