MOSCOW, November 25 (RAPSI) – Russia’s Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, on Monday approved a bill to equate individuals with media foreign agents in certain circumstances.

In 2018, the State Duma passed in the first reading a bill establishing administrative liability for violating procedures governing the activities of mass media classified as “foreign agents”. Finally, the lower house adopted the initiative on November 21.

According to the draft law, individuals may be also called foreign agents if comply with the criteria. According to MP Petr Tolstoy, the document may affect bloggers, who are financed from abroad and are registered as media.

The bill stipulates that reports and publications of media declared foreign agents must contain a reference to the outlet’s status. If such media outlets fail to register as foreign agents or mark their publications, it will face blocking.