BBC, CNN, others pull out of Russia over “fake news” law. Details here

Amid Ukraine war, protests and the coverage, Russia on Friday took an unprecedented step to punish “fake news” against its army. President Vladimir Putin cleared a law of up to 15 years of jail term as punishment.

A pushback soon followed with the BBC announcing that it was halting its operations. Others including CNN and Bloomberg announced similar measures.

BBC halts work in Moscow

BBC Director-General Tim Davie said the legislation “appears to criminalise the process of independent journalism”. “It leaves us no other option than to temporarily suspend the work of all BBC News journalists and their support staff within the Russian Federation while we assess the full implications of this unwelcome development,” he said in a statement.

Bloomberg suspends operations

U.S.-based Bloomberg News said it was also temporarily suspending the work of its journalists inside Russia. “The change to the criminal code, which seems designed to turn any independent reporter into a criminal purely by association, makes it impossible to continue any semblance of normal journalism inside the country,” Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait said in a statement.

CBC suspends reporting in Russia

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp said it had temporarily suspended reporting from the ground in Russia so it could seek clarity on the new law. The CBC said in a statement it was ‘very concerned’ about the law, which ‘appears to criminalise independent reporting on the current situation in Ukraine and Russia’.

CNN to stop broadcasting in Russia

“CNN will stop broadcasting in Russia while we continue to evaluate the situation and our next steps moving forward,” a spokesperson said.

Russia cuts Facebook, Twitter access

Russia had earlier cut access to several foreign news organisations’ websites, including the BBC, Voice of America and Deutsche Welle, as well as social media giants Facebook and Twitter for spreading what it said was false information about its war in Ukraine.

What does the ‘fake news’ law say

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed into law a bill introducing jail terms of up to 15 years for fake news about the Russian army. Russian authorities have repeatedly decried reports of Russian military setbacks or civilian deaths in Ukraine as “fake” news. State media outlets refer to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “special military operation” rather than a “war” or an “invasion.” Lawmakers passed amendments to the criminal code making the spread of “fake” information an offence punishable with fines or jail terms.

Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the lower house of parliament, said the measure “will force those who lied and made statements discrediting our armed forces to bear very grave punishment.” “I want everyone to understand, and for society to understand, that we are doing this to protect our soldiers and officers, and to protect the truth,” he added. Meanwhile, the western countries and tech platforms have also banned the Russian news network RT, with the European Union accusing it of systematic disinformation over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Facebook, TikTok, Twitter and Microsoft are cracking down on Kremlin-backed news outlets RT and Sputnik following the European Union’s ban on Russian state media, Reuters reported.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has entered the tenth day. Russian troops on Friday seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in the southeastern city of Enerhodar in an attack that evoked memories of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, at Ukraine’s Chernobyl. People across Ukraine have taken up arms and sought shelter. More than 1.2 million people have fled to neighbouring countries, the U.N. refugee agency said Friday.