MOSCOW, February 19 (RAPSI) – The State Duma, the lower house of parliament, on February 20 will consider in the first reading a bill proposing a fine of up to 1 million rubles ($16,000) for mass media accused of inciting violence and terrorism, Interfax reported on Thursday.

Mass media will be held responsible for producing and disseminating products that encourage or justify terrorism, products that encourage or justify extremism, as well as materials that promote acts of violence and cruelty, according to the bill.

Under the bill, media outlets would be fined 100,000 to 1 million rubles and the offending product would be confiscated for producing and disseminating publications that contain calls for terrorism.

Fines for the owners of media outlets that produce materials that promote acts of violence and cruelty would range between 20,000 and 200,000 rubles ($321-$3,200).

Initially, the authors of the bill proposed tougher penalties for the dissemination, production or storage of extremist materials on the federal list. It is expected that this provision will be removed before the bill reaches the second reading.