The State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications at a meeting on Wednesday recommended that a bill be read in the second reading on additional regulation of foreign media - foreign agents, including allowing individuals to be given this status.

As soon as this news appeared on the feeds of news agencies, our "liberal opposition" press began to boil, gave a plentiful foam and in the air it distinctly smelled of hysteria and lies. Literally an hour later, the network was flooded with materials of indignation and panic, in which they began to intimidate readers with scary stories of total censorship and peremptory statements that the State Duma wants to equate ordinary people with foreign media. All people.

Considering that not everyone wants to turn to the source, the free interpretation of the bill fell on fertile soil and immediately gave the first shoots in the form of an indignant public, which immediately screamed about the violation of their rights and freedoms.

In this connection, the need arose to at least slightly understand the issue, to separate the grains from the chaff and to determine which of the individuals actually runs the risk of replenishing the list.

So, the first and most important condition is the obligatory receipt of funds from media foreign agents. That is, if one of the articles of your income is the profit received from cooperation with the Voice of America *, Radio Liberty **, the TV channel "Real Time" ***, the Tatar-Bashkir service "Radio Liberty" ****, Sibir.Realiy resources *****, Idel.Realities ******, Factograph *******, Caucasus.Realities ******** and " Crimea.Realities »*********, then the chances of becoming a foreign agent are really great.

The second mandatory feature is the specificity of published and distributed materials. If you write about culture, sports or art, you are unlikely to become the object of interest of the Ministry of Justice. However, if the content you distribute is of a socio-political nature and at the same time you receive funding from structures and / or persons recognized as foreign agents on the territory of the Russian Federation, please be kind, register, put the appropriate markings on your materials, annually give the Ministry of Justice a report on your activities and where the funds received from foreign sources are spent, and also publish a publicly available report on your activities every six months.

If you are an honest person who has nothing to hide, then the fulfillment of such simple conditions should not be a problem. Moreover, this is a common practice abroad.

As for the panic on the topic “you can become a repost for an agent”, I remind you once again that funding from the media that perform the functions of another agent is a prerequisite for inclusion in the list of foreign agents.

Leonid Levin, head of the State Duma committee on information policy, information technology and communications, assured that legislative measures will not be used against opponents of the current government, and stressed that the decision to recognize an individual as a foreign agent will be made by the Ministry of Justice together with the Russian Foreign Ministry on a case-by-case basis.

In this connection, attempts to make this bill so absurd that, they say, even Donald Trump, as an active Twitter user and as receiving a salary from the US budget, can fall under it with all responsibility I can say is a lie and provocation, the main purpose of which is to form a negative attitude to the Russian authorities and their legislative initiatives.

By the way! Let me remind you that this bill was postponed two years ago. And it has become relevant right now, primarily because the foreign media have too actively and too arrogantly begun to interfere in our internal affairs.

Moreover, being caught by the hand, they continued to pretend that they did not see anything wrong with the fact that they were urging Muscovites from Berlin to go out for mass political actions that were not coordinated with the Moscow authorities.

Another aspect that has forced us to return to the consideration of this bill is the pressure that almost everyone who cooperates with the Russian television channel RT in one way or another is subjected to pressure.

At the same time - I note this nuance especially! - Most foreign viewers agree that RT is almost the only objective source of information that does not impose any one point of view on its audience. While the majority of Western media working for the Russian audience clearly and consistently lobby for interests and promote views, opinions and assessments of current events exclusively of an opposition and even anti-Russian orientation.

It should be understood that the same law in different countries can have different goals. And if for the USA the Act on Registration of Foreign Agents is an instrument of censorship, then in Russia it is necessary, let's say, for hygienic purposes. So that the reader, before starting to familiarize himself with the material proposed for reading, understands that its author represents one or another foreign media, which, in turn, lobbies the interests of its state, which, alas, often run counter to the interests of the Russian Federation.

And the last one. Despite the fact that all media employees recognized as foreign agents receive a salary, this does not mean that they all automatically become foreign agents. Only those in whose activity attempts to intervene in the internal affairs of the country and impose opinions contrary to the laws and policies of the Russian Federation will fall into the field of view of the Ministry of Justice. Plus, attacks on the territorial integrity of the country, incitement of interethnic and interethnic hatred, calls for destabilizing the situation in the country and everything else that is stipulated by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation will not remain without attention.

If in all of the above you are not noticed - write to your health. But you still have to register. Because everything must be transparent. First of all, for the end user of information. Who has the right to know that some materials were not written at the behest of the soul, but merely relay the view from the side. Which is not always unbiased, impartial and friendly.

I allow myself a small remark. As a journalist, I am very pleased that this bill has been adopted. Just because with its help our information space will become more transparent. But what makes me most happy is that the current composition of the State Duma, chaired by Vyacheslav Volodin, has ceased to be afraid to discuss and make unpopular decisions in very narrow, but very vociferous circles. And what is being done now without looking at the opinions of our Western “partners”, which any law aimed at ensuring the national interest and security of Russia, limiting the possibility of interference in its internal affairs, is always perceived negatively and with condemnation. There will be a lot of noise this time too. But this will not affect the fate of the decision, which is so necessary in the current realities.

* Media recognized as a foreign agent by decision of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation dated 12/05/2017.

** Media recognized as a foreign agent by decision of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation dated 05.12.2017.

*** Media recognized as a foreign agent by decision of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation dated 05.12.2017.

**** Media recognized as a foreign agent by decision of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation dated 05.12.2017.

***** Media recognized as a foreign agent by decision of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation dated 12/05/2017.

****** Media recognized as a foreign agent by decision of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation dated 05.12.2017.

******* Media recognized as a foreign agent by decision of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation dated 05.12.2017.

******** Media recognized as a foreign agent by decision of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation dated 05.12.2017.

********* Media recognized as a foreign agent by decision of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation dated 05.12.2017.

The author’s point of view may not coincide with the position of the publisher.