MOSCOW: Several Russian media outlets on Friday published an open letter to President Vladimir Putin and other top officials demanding an end to the “state campaign” against independent journalism.
The outcry comes after Russia slapped several media outlets and individual journalists with the “foreign agent” label that requires them to carry out tedious administrative procedures and clearly indicate their status on everything they publish.
Independent journalism in Russia is facing mounting pressure, especially in the run-up to parliamentary polls in September.
The letter was signed by the Meduza news website, Dozhd TV channel — both of which have been declared foreign agents this year — Forbes Russia and around half a dozen local media outlets.
“We, journalists and editors of Russian and Russian-language media, demand an immediate end to the state campaign against the independent press,” the open letter said.
It added that these labels “directly violate” the constitution, media laws and freedom of speech.
The status either leads to the media’s closure or creates “discriminatory conditions” that restrict the work of journalists, the letter said.
But the Kremlin on Friday swiftly rejected the letter’s demands, saying authorities were simply applying the law.
“The law should exist and will exist,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
That was because “NGOS and journalists are often used” by foreign states interfering in “the affairs of our country,” he said.
He did say, however, that how the law is being enforced “should be discussed.”
Organizations or individuals declared “foreign agents” must disclose sources of funding and label all their publications, including social media posts, with the tag or face fines.
The status is a deterrent for advertisers, a key source of revenue for many independent media.
In July, the investigative outlet Proekt, which reported on the wealth of Russia’s elites, was declared an “undesirable organization,” de-facto banning its work in the country under the threat of fines or jail time.
Russia has also blocked the websites of two media outlets and one human rights group linked to self-exiled Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Legislation behind the term “foreign agent,” which has Soviet-era undertones, was originally passed in 2012 to cover NGOs.
It was expanded to include media organizations in 2017 after Kremlin-funded RT.
Russian journalists demand end to crackdown on media
https://arab.news/2jp4u
Russian journalists demand end to crackdown on media
- Russian media outlets publish an open letter to President Vladimir Putin demanding an end to the “state campaign” against independent journalism
- This comes after Russia slapped several media outlets and individual journalists with the “foreign agent” label
Israel arrests 2 Turkish CNN journalists over live broadcast outside IDF HQ
- Police said reporter Emrah Cakmak and cameraman Halil Kahraman were detained on suspicion of filming a sensitive security facility
- Since the Gaza war began, restrictions have expanded significantly, including tighter limits on filming soldiers on duty and sensitive or strategic sites
LONDON: Israeli police have arrested two Turkish CNN journalists who were broadcasting live outside the Israel Defense Forces’ headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Police said the pair were detained on suspicion of filming a sensitive security facility, according to the Israel Police Spokesperson’s Unit.
Reporter Emrah Cakmak and cameraman Halil Kahraman, from the network’s Turkish-language channel, had been reporting near the IDF’s Kirya military headquarters on Tuesday after Iran launched another missile barrage at Tel Aviv and other parts of central Israel.
During the live broadcast, two men believed to be soldiers approached the crew and seized the reporter’s phone, according to initial reports and a video circulating online that could not be independently verified.
Police said officers were dispatched after receiving reports of two people carrying cameras and allegedly broadcasting in real time for a foreign outlet.
עיתונאים של CNN טורקיה נעצרו לאחר שצילמו את בסיס הקרייה@NoamIhmels pic.twitter.com/t8a5P9yXfw
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) March 3, 2026
Israel’s long-standing military censorship system, overseen by the IDF Military Censor, has long barred journalists and civilians from publishing material deemed harmful to national security.
Since the Gaza war began, restrictions have expanded significantly, including tighter limits on filming soldiers on duty and sensitive or strategic sites.
After a series of similar incidents involving foreign media — most of them Palestinian citizens of Israel working for Arab-language and international media, along with foreign journalists — during the 12-Day War, Israeli police halted live international broadcasts from missile impact sites, citing concerns that exact locations were being revealed.
The Government Press Office later imposed a blanket ban on live coverage from crash and impact areas.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir subsequently ordered that all foreign journalists obtain prior written approval from the military censor before broadcasting — live or recorded — from combat zones or missile strike locations.
Police said that when officers asked the CNN Turk crew to identify themselves, they presented expired press cards and were taken in for questioning.
Burhanettin Duran, head of Turkiye’s Directorate of Communications, condemned the arrests as an attack on the press and said Ankara is working to secure the journalists’ release.
