Incident
Russia: outlet fined $338,000 under the foreign agents law
A Moscow court fined the magazine The New Times 22.3 million rubles, about $338,000, for a paperwork lapse under Russia's foreign agents law, a sum its editor said was designed to force the outlet to close.123
What happened
On October 26, 2018, a Moscow court ordered the magazine The New Times to pay 22.3 million rubles, about $338,000, for failing to provide financial information required under Russia's foreign agents law, which requires organizations that receive funding from abroad to register and report on their finances or face penalties. The New Times had already been financially strained, having stopped producing a print edition in June 2017 for lack of money. Its editor said she had in fact reported the required information correctly to the proper authorities and said she would appeal the fine. CPJ said the fine was clearly intended to cripple the outlet and amounted to a serious threat to what remained of press freedom in Russia, since a sum of that size threatened the magazine's ability to keep operating at all.123
Ongoing on appeal as of the source reviewed.123
What reason was given
Stated justificationNot stated in the sources reviewed.1
What changed for reporting
A fine of that size, imposed on an outlet already unable to afford printing, threatened to end The New Times' operations entirely rather than simply penalize a specific story.2
Timeline
2018
Who acted
| Name | Role in this incident | Office at the time |
|---|---|---|
| Vladimir Putin | other | President of Russia |
Outlets and journalists
| Name | Kind | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| The New Times | outlet | affected |
Sources
- Russia uses 'foreign agents' law to hit independent outlet with massive fine
- Moscow court slaps independent magazine with crippling 22-million-ruble fine for late paperwork
- Independent Russian magazine spared extinction by readers covering mammoth 'political' fine
Claims and evidence
Each numbered claim quotes the source it rests on.
- The specific violation cited under the foreign agents law.
for failing to provide financial information under Russia's "foreign agents" law
Russia uses 'foreign agents' law to hit independent outlet with massive fine, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2018-10-26.Claim 552, checked 2026-09-22. - CPJ's assessment of the fine's practical effect.
The exorbitant fine imposed on The New Times is clearly aimed at crippling the outlet and amounts to a direct attack on what is left of press freedom in Russia
Russia uses 'foreign agents' law to hit independent outlet with massive fine, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2018-10-26.Claim 553, checked 2026-09-22. - The amount and stated legal basis for the fine.
A Moscow court on October 26 ordered the outlet to pay 22.3 million rubles (US$338,000)
Russia uses 'foreign agents' law to hit independent outlet with massive fine, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2018-10-26.Claim 678, checked 2026-09-22.