{
  "id": 179,
  "slug": "2018-russia-fines-the-new-times",
  "title": "Russia: outlet fined $338,000 under the foreign agents law",
  "occurred_on": "2018-10-26",
  "occurred_on_precision": "day",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "RU",
  "country": "RU",
  "continent": "europe",
  "level": "national",
  "type": null,
  "tactic_primary": "lawsuits_against_press",
  "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin",
  "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.",
  "outcome": "ongoing",
  "outcome_on": "2018-10-26",
  "outcome_note": "The outlet's editor said she would appeal the fine; the source reviewed does not report the appeal's result.",
  "granularity": "granular",
  "era": "2010s",
  "summary": "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.{c:552}{c:553}{c:678}",
  "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.{c:552}{c:553}{c:678}\n\nOngoing on appeal as of the source reviewed.{c:552}{c:553}{c:678}",
  "stated_justification": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.{c:552}",
  "effect_on_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.{c:553}",
  "unknowns": "The sources reviewed do not report the outcome of the editor's stated appeal.",
  "status": "in_effect",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-23T01:20:17Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 9,
  "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:20:12Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-23T02:23:04Z",
  "stage": "pressure",
  "ladder_note": "A court fined an outlet $338,000 over a foreign agents paperwork lapse, a sum its editor said was designed to force its closure; United States lawsuits against the press have not sought a fine that could end an outlet's operations.",
  "country_name": "Russia",
  "tactics": [
    "lawsuits_against_press"
  ],
  "leader": {
    "slug": "vladimir-putin",
    "name": "Vladimir Putin",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/vladimir-putin"
  },
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-russia-fines-the-new-times",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-23T01:20:17Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 3,
    "status": "in_effect",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": "The sources reviewed do not report the outcome of the editor's stated appeal."
  },
  "actors": [
    {
      "slug": "vladimir-putin",
      "name": "Vladimir Putin",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/vladimir-putin"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [
    {
      "slug": "the-new-times",
      "name": "The New Times",
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/outlets/the-new-times"
    }
  ],
  "journalists": [],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 552,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 179,
      "field": "stated_justification",
      "value": "Fine for failing to provide financial information",
      "statement": "The specific violation cited under the foreign agents law.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 394,
      "evidence_quote": "for failing to provide financial information under Russia's \"foreign agents\" law",
      "evidence_date": "2018-10-26",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:20:14Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 394,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2018/10/russia-uses-foreign-agents-law-to-hit-independent/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2018/10/russia-uses-foreign-agents-law-to-hit-independent/",
        "title": "Russia uses 'foreign agents' law to hit independent outlet with massive fine",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2018-10-26",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/552"
    },
    {
      "id": 553,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 179,
      "field": "effect_on_reporting",
      "value": "CPJ says the fine is designed to cripple the outlet",
      "statement": "CPJ's assessment of the fine's practical effect.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 394,
      "evidence_quote": "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",
      "evidence_date": "2018-10-26",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:20:15Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 394,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2018/10/russia-uses-foreign-agents-law-to-hit-independent/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2018/10/russia-uses-foreign-agents-law-to-hit-independent/",
        "title": "Russia uses 'foreign agents' law to hit independent outlet with massive fine",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2018-10-26",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/553"
    },
    {
      "id": 678,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 179,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "Fined 22.3 million rubles for a foreign agents paperwork lapse",
      "statement": "The amount and stated legal basis for the fine.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 394,
      "evidence_quote": "A Moscow court on October 26 ordered the outlet to pay 22.3 million rubles (US$338,000)",
      "evidence_date": "2018-10-26",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:35:48Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 394,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2018/10/russia-uses-foreign-agents-law-to-hit-independent/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2018/10/russia-uses-foreign-agents-law-to-hit-independent/",
        "title": "Russia uses 'foreign agents' law to hit independent outlet with massive fine",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2018-10-26",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/678"
    },
    {
      "id": 717,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 179,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "Tverskoy court fines New Times 22M rubles",
      "statement": "Meduza reported that Moscow's Tverskoy District Court fined The New Times and its editor-in-chief, Yevgenia Albats, 22 million rubles (about $335,000) on October 26, 2018.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 476,
      "evidence_quote": "On October 26, Moscow's Tverskoy District Court fined the independent magazine The New Times and its chief editor, Evgeniya Albats, 22 million rubles ($335,000)",
      "evidence_date": "2018-10-27",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "v3-second-sources-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T02:22:12Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 476,
        "url": "https://meduza.io/en/news/2018/10/27/moscow-court-slaps-independent-magazine-with-crippling-22-million-ruble-fine-for-late-paperwork",
        "final_url": null,
        "title": "Moscow court slaps independent magazine with crippling 22-million-ruble fine for late paperwork",
        "publisher": "Meduza",
        "published_on": "2018-10-27",
        "link_state": "unchecked",
        "link_state_since": null,
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/717"
    },
    {
      "id": 722,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 179,
      "field": "status",
      "value": "fine paid via reader crowdfunding",
      "statement": "ICIJ reported that after the roughly $340,000 fine, The New Times and Yevgenia Albats raised the funds to pay it through a reader crowdfunding campaign.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 477,
      "evidence_quote": "The court fined Albats and the online magazine The New Times more than $340,000 for allegedly failing to report donations received from readers",
      "evidence_date": "2018-11",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "v3-second-sources-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T02:23:03Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 477,
        "url": "https://www.icij.org/inside-icij/2018/11/independent-russian-magazine-spared-extinction-by-readers-covering-mammoth-political-fine/",
        "final_url": null,
        "title": "Independent Russian magazine spared extinction by readers covering mammoth 'political' fine",
        "publisher": "ICIJ",
        "published_on": "2018-11",
        "link_state": "unchecked",
        "link_state_since": null,
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/722"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": 394,
      "url": "https://cpj.org/2018/10/russia-uses-foreign-agents-law-to-hit-independent/",
      "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2018/10/russia-uses-foreign-agents-law-to-hit-independent/",
      "title": "Russia uses 'foreign agents' law to hit independent outlet with massive fine",
      "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
      "published_on": "2018-10-26",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    },
    {
      "id": 476,
      "url": "https://meduza.io/en/news/2018/10/27/moscow-court-slaps-independent-magazine-with-crippling-22-million-ruble-fine-for-late-paperwork",
      "final_url": null,
      "title": "Moscow court slaps independent magazine with crippling 22-million-ruble fine for late paperwork",
      "publisher": "Meduza",
      "published_on": "2018-10-27",
      "link_state": "unchecked",
      "link_state_since": null,
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    },
    {
      "id": 477,
      "url": "https://www.icij.org/inside-icij/2018/11/independent-russian-magazine-spared-extinction-by-readers-covering-mammoth-political-fine/",
      "final_url": null,
      "title": "Independent Russian magazine spared extinction by readers covering mammoth 'political' fine",
      "publisher": "ICIJ",
      "published_on": "2018-11",
      "link_state": "unchecked",
      "link_state_since": null,
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    }
  ],
  "revisions_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-russia-fines-the-new-times/revisions",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  },
  "cite_as": "Russia: outlet fined $338,000 under the foreign agents law. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-russia-fines-the-new-times. Retrieved 2026-09-23."
}