President Putin has signed into law a controversial bill forcing foreign-funded non-governmental groups (NGOs) involved in political activity to register as "foreign agents" in Russia.
The Kremlin has said the law is needed to protect Russia from outside attempts to influence internal politics.
But critics think the authorities will use the law to try to crush dissent.
They say it aims to prevent such NGOs denouncing vote-rigging and other abuses.
The law requires the phrase "foreign agents" - with its negative Soviet-era connotation - to be included in all materials produced by all affected NGOs.
Such NGOs would also have to undergo financial audits and issue twice-yearly reports on their activities.
Failure to comply will be punishable by heavy fines or even a two-year prison sentence.
The article is written as if this were a bad thing. But is it ?
I mean , if some foreign nation was spending money to influence who the next prime minister of Canada would be , we would freak out. And justifiably so. Canadian's decide who that will be , not China or The USA.
I think Russia might have this one right. So right that maybe we might have to adopt something similar.
Though personally I would favor just confiscating their assets and sending them packing rather than any jail terms. Different culture , different rules and all of that.
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