As the Soviet Union crumbled, a genuine flowering of independent news media appeared in Russia. The radio station Echo of Moscow, the newsmagazine Itogi, the newspapers Sevodnya and Kommersant, the television channel NTV and dozens of others arose during the 1990s, unfettered by the state. Most are now shuttered or under the thumb of the Kremlin, or its allies. One of the last independent outlets, Meduza, has just been designated “undesirable” by Russia, threatening those who read and disseminate it in the country with criminal penalties.
Meduza has been at the front lines of reporting about President Vladimir Putin’s shift from soft authoritarianism to dictatorship. It was founded in 2014 by a group of journalists, including Galina Timchenko, who was fired that year as editor in chief of the popular news site Lenta.ru by its oligarch owner after Russia instigated the conflict in Ukraine with its invasion and annexation of Crimea. They set up Meduza in Latvia. In 2021, Russia formally labeled Meduza a “foreign agent” in an effort to discourage its coverage, and in 2022, as the war in Ukraine began, it was blocked online inside of Russia. But Meduza has refused to give up. It has grown into the most widely read independent source of news on Russia in Russian. By operating from Riga, it has protected its finances and operations from Russian control.
The new crackdown means it is completely prohibited in Russia under a law, adopted in 2015, that gives the prosecutor general the right to designate any foreign or international nongovernmental organization “undesirable” if it concludes that the activities threaten “the foundations of the constitutional order and security of the Russian Federation.” Meduza no longer has journalists inside Russia. But criminal penalties might be lodged against those who distribute Meduza’s reports or repost them on social media, those inside Russia who try to transfer money to Meduza or those who serve as sources for interviews and comments. “We are afraid for our readers,” the news outlet said after the designation. “We are scared for those who have worked with Meduza for many years. We are afraid for our loved ones and friends.”
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End of carousel- D.C. Council reverses itself on school resource officers. Good.
- Virginia makes a mistake by pulling out of an election fraud detection group.
- Vietnam sentences another democracy activist.
- Biden has a new border plan.
The D.C. Council voted on Tuesday to stop pulling police officers out of schools, a big win for student safety. Parents and principals overwhelmingly support keeping school resource officers around because they help de-escalate violent situations. D.C. joins a growing number of jurisdictions, from Montgomery County, Md., to Denver, in reversing course after withdrawing officers from school grounds following George Floyd’s murder. Read our recent editorial on why D.C. needs SROs.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) just withdrew Virginia from a data-sharing consortium, ERIC, that made the commonwealth’s elections more secure, following Republicans in seven other states in falling prey to disinformation peddled by election deniers. Former GOP governor Robert F. McDonnell made Virginia a founding member of ERIC in 2012, and until recently conservatives touted the group as a tool to combat voter fraud. D.C. and Maryland plan to remain. Read our recent editorial on ERIC.
In Vietnam, a one-party state, democracy activist Tran Van Bang was sentenced on Friday to eight years in prison and three years probation for writing 39 Facebook posts. The court claimed he had defamed the state in his writings, according to Radio Free Asia. In the past six years, at least 60 bloggers and activists have been sentenced to between 4 and 15 years in prison under the law, Human Rights Watch found. Read more of the Editorial Board’s coverage on autocracy and Vietnam.
The Department of Homeland Security has provided details of a plan to prevent a migrant surge along the southern border. The administration would presumptively deny asylum to migrants who failed to seek it in a third country en route — unless they face “an extreme and imminent threat” of rape, kidnapping, torture or murder. Critics allege that this is akin to an illegal Trump-era policy. In fact, President Biden is acting lawfully in response to what was fast becoming an unmanageable flow at the border. Read our most recent editorial on the U.S. asylum system.
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Nonetheless, Meduza vowed, “we believe in what we do. We believe in freedom of speech. We believe in a democratic Russia. The stronger the pressure, the harder we resist it.” The organization added, in a posting on its site: “We have no right to give up and be silent,” and “We will figure out how to work in the new conditions and how to stay close to you.”
The attack on Meduza underscores yet again the extent of Mr. Putin’s drive toward totalitarianism — control over all aspects of society. He has criminalized freedom of speech, assembly and religion inside of Russia, and is trying to destroy Ukraine as a democracy. Meduza’s survival is vital to keep shining a light on Russia when freedom is at risk.