MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s main domestic security agency has released an extensive list of topics that could trigger the designation of “foreign agent” for someone who provides information about them to other countries even though they are not state secrets.
An order by the Federal Security Service released Friday on a government information portal lists an array of topics connected to the military and space programs, including morale in the armed forces. It says such information if provided to foreign governments, institutions or individuals could be used against Russia’s security.
Compiling such a list was called for in an amended version of the law that also provides for organizations receiving foreign funding to be classified as foreign agents. That designation has been applied to some civil organizations and media that are critical of the authorities.
The head of the state sovereignty protection committee in the upper house of parliament, Andrei Klimov, said that “these provisions of the law have nothing to do with freedom of speech.”
“We are talking about the constant, systematic collection of information for transmission to a foreign state or foreign structures,” he added.
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