Visa for publication: in the United States proposed to impose sanctions for restricting the work of American journalists

US senators Marco Rubio and Ben Cardin submitted to the US Congress a bill protecting the freedom of the press in the world and increasing engagement with the American media. As stated in the document, which was reviewed by RT, Washington should encourage other countries to investigate violations of the rights of journalists and provide access to American news sites.

“The United States is pursuing a policy that calls on other states to conduct transparent investigations and hold perpetrators of attacks on journalists, bloggers and other media workers accountable and stop making efforts to block access or censor material from American journalists and media workers, as well as sites of American news and media organizations, ”the bill says.

Senators believe that the White House should link the expansion of “free exchange of information” with trade and other agreements through the use of language that guarantees this freedom.

The efforts of the US government to protect and expand freedom of the press and freedom of expression, as indicated in the document, help strengthen US national interests "by supporting democracy and stimulating the development of civil society in the world."

In their bill, Rubio and Cardin propose imposing sanctions on foreigners who are responsible for arresting or assaulting journalists, as well as for restricting the activities of American media employees.

“The President has the right to impose sanctions on any foreign nationals who, in his opinion and according to convincing evidence, are responsible for imprisoning, killing or torturing journalists or have made significant efforts to oppress, restrict their activities, cancel their visas or endanger US security journalists and media workers, ”the initiative states.

As restrictions, it is proposed to prohibit violators from entering the United States, refuse to obtain a visa, and annul previously issued documents.

As explained by RT director of the U.S. Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University, Yuri Rogulev, in Washington they consider sanctions as a completely legitimate way to conduct foreign policy. However, previously there were no separate restrictions on violations of the rights of media workers. According to Rogulev, with the help of the new bill, it is planned to “protect freedom” exclusively of American media and to promote Washington’s point of view in other countries.

Meanwhile, HSE professor Alexander Domrin added that American politicians perceive the ban on entering the United States as a serious blow to human rights.

“In the States they think that if you restrict access to their territory, then this is a form of sanction, a loss of rights. The government believes that in this way it will limit the possibilities of representatives of “propaganda” companies that say something different from broadcasting CNN, MSNBC and others, ”said the expert.

Different views on freedom

In the bill, the authors also listed countries in which, in their opinion, freedom of the press was violated. Among them, they also indicated Russia, where the "draconian laws" were allegedly applied to put pressure on the media.  

“The Russian Federation continues to block and control information on the Internet using modern means and apply draconian laws to put pressure on independent media,” the bill says.

In addition to the Russian Federation, China, Turkey, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria are mentioned in the document.

As Rubio emphasized in a commentary on the project, Moscow and Beijing are "spreading propaganda," and his initiative is designed to hold accountable those who "suppress freedom of the press."

“Authoritarian regimes around the world continue to censor the free flow of information using modern means and drown out independent media. Countries such as Russia and China use open societies to spread their propaganda, ”the press service quoted the politician as saying.

• US Senator Marco Rubio
• Reuters
• © Gabriella Demczuk / Pool

Recall that since 2017, the law on media foreign agents has been in force in Russia, which is a response to the oppression of Russian media in the United States. It gives the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation the right to demand from media organizations receiving funding from abroad, registration as a foreign agent. This status requires that materials be labeled with a warning and financial statements.

The law was passed after US authorities forced RT America to register as a foreign agent in the United States. T&R Productions LLC, which operates the television channel, as well as Reston Translator, which broadcasts the radio stations Sputnik and RTTV America, were entered into the register.

As member of the Federation Council Andrei Klimov explained, innovations are “mirror, targeted.”

“It was only necessary to increase the efficiency of the RT, it was worth only more Americans to start watching their site, their programs, as the US Department of Justice took such an unfriendly step, which we consider to be a violation of the US Constitution. We do not violate our Constitution, and the law has the right to create the same conditions for foreign journalists as are created for ours on their territory, ”the senator said.

In the United States, they promised that the new status of RT America will not affect the work of the channel. However, after registering as a foreign agent, correspondents began to lose accreditation. First of all, the US Congress took this step, banning RT America from covering the work of the legislature.

“This is a violation of the promises made by the US State Department, saying that it was just about registration, and the company would work normally. This is a violation of the US commitments that they have undertaken under the relevant OSCE documents, which states that participating States should facilitate the work of the media and assist them in every way, ”commented the actions of Washington by the chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Information Policy Alexey Pushkov.

It is noteworthy that the bill of Rubio and Cardin says: the US media market remains open to foreign media. Meanwhile, restrictions on the American press from other countries harm the competitiveness of American organizations and limit US access to information that is important for investors and consumers, say senators.

“The governments of some countries block or censor American news and media organizations, including those located in the United States, as well as information portals, while the American market (media. - RT ) remains open for websites of foreign news and media organizations and information portals, including for state propaganda organizations, ”the senators emphasize.

The American authorities adhere to double standards in matters of media freedom, noted American political scientist Mikhail Sinelnikov-Orishak. According to him, despite declarations on the protection of freedom of the press, Washington controls information flows in its interests.

“What does not comply with US policy, simply does not get into the mainstream. The authorities have created many non-obvious mechanisms that “filter out” unnecessary information, prevent it from reaching a wide audience. This approach to the marginalization of news is well established and operates both on the domestic and foreign markets, ”the source said.

Yuri Rogulev, in turn, added that the activities of foreign media in the United States are regulated by a number of laws, and although the work of employees of such media is not formally prohibited, in practice it is seriously limited.

• RT
• © RT

“Gross violations”

It is worth noting that not only the Russian media faced pressure and obstacles in their work in the United States. In March, the State Department decided to reduce the number of Chinese state-owned media workers working in US missions from 160 to 100.

And on May 8, the US Department of Homeland Security announced a tightening of the visa regime for journalists from China. Now they will be issued non-immigrant visas for up to 90 days.

Beijing protested Washington and announced the mass withdrawal of accreditation from journalists of the American newspapers The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.

In addition, American companies have repeatedly blocked the content of foreign media on the Internet. So, in May 2020, the American video hosting YouTube deleted the accounts of the Crimea 24 TV channel, Anna News and News-Front news agencies. A month earlier, Google blocked the Federal News Agency page and its associated YouTube account.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarded these actions as another act of discrimination against Russian-language media resources from US-controlled Internet platforms and called the White House policy “a flagrant violation of international obligations.”

However, US censorship applies not only to foreign sources, but also to local media. Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, referring to the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, based in New York, spoke about cases of physical violence against media personnel. According to her, critical publications are brought to court for critical publications, and media employees are forced to disclose confidential data at the border.

“We expect from the United States not ostentatious concern for freedom of speech around the world, but concrete actions to rectify the situation with media rights and the situation of journalists in the first place in their own country,” Zakharova concluded.

One of the best-known examples of US controversy over press freedom is the case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

US authorities demand the extradition of a journalist who is currently in a London prison. The US Department of Justice has filed 18 criminal charges against Assange. He is considered guilty of violating the law on espionage and the disclosure of classified information. In total, Assange faces up to 175 years in prison.