
Russia set to block ‘foreign agent’ journalists’ income

After a year that saw Russia increase its pressure on independent media and journalists, authorities are seeking to tighten the squeeze on dissenting voices from March 1 by blocking those designated as “foreign agents” from access to their earnings.
So-called foreign agents will not be allowed to withdraw their earnings unless they are removed from the register. However, the government can withdraw money from agents’ accounts to pay fines imposed for failing to apply that label to their published material or to report on their activities and expenses to the government — a legal requirement since 2020.
While the new law’s full impact remains to be seen, it looms as yet another threat for exiled media outlets already rattled by the prospect of losing funding after U.S. President Donald Trump’s freezing of foreign aid.
“It is clear that the legal pressure on journalists who stay in Russia — and those who have relocated — will increase,” Mikhail Danilovich, director of The New Tab, an exiled online magazine founded in May 2022, which has been blocked inside Russia due to its coverage of the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, told CPJ.
-Explore Russia’s repression record
Read more
China, Israel, Myanmar top jailers of journalists

China, Israel, and Myanmar emerged as the world’s three worst offenders in another record-setting year for journalists jailed because of their work, CPJ’s 2024 prison census has found. Belarus and Russia rounded out the top five, with CPJ documenting its second-highest number behind bars – 361 journalists incarcerated on December 1, 2024.
CPJ recorded unprecedented totals in several countries including China, Israel, Tunisia, and Azerbaijan.
Related content
* Flaws, inconsistencies in murder conviction of Senegal’s Bassène
* Tunisia uses cybercrime law to jail record number of journalists
* How CPJ helps jailed journalists
Read more
More From CPJ
Safety Resources
The Committee to Protect Journalists promotes press freedom worldwide.
We defend the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.
Journalists Attacked
Myat Thu Tan


Ahmed Al Shayyah
Freelance, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Mohammed Al-Talmas
Safa News Agency, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Omar Al Dirawi
Assulta Arrabaa, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Jimmy Jean
Moun Afe Bon, Haiti

Marckendy Natoux
Freelance,Voice of America, Haiti

Jihan Belkin
Hawar News Agency (ANHA), Syria