Russian TV network registers as foreign agent in US
WASHINGTON — Russian state-funded TV channel RT has registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent after pressure from the U.S. government, documents released Monday show.
The Justice Department announced the registration just hours after RT’s chief editor said the company had complied with the U.S. demand that it register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The move doesn’t restrict the channel’s content, but the network is required to publicly disclose details about its funding and operations as well as mark certain content distributed in the U.S. with labels.
Many news outlets with ties to foreign governments are required to similarly register, but the pressure on RT has angered Russian officials who have said they will retaliate with unspecified restrictions on U.S. news outlets.
On Monday, RT editor, Margarita Simonyan, said on the channel’s Russian-language website that “between a criminal case and the registration, we have chosen the latter,” adding on a sarcastic note that “we congratulate the American freedom of speech and those who still believe in it on that.”