New York Times Pulls Editorial Staff From Russia Following 'Fake News' Law - The Wall Street Journal
The New York Times Co. said it was pulling its editorial staff from Russia days after the country passed a law that threatens prison time for anyone who publishes what authorities consider to be false information about the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
"Russia’s new legislation seeks to criminalize independent, accurate news reporting about the war against Ukraine,” a New York Times spokeswoman said Tuesday. “For the safety and security of our editorial staff working in the region, we are moving them out of the country for now. We look forward to them returning as soon as possible while we monitor the application of the new law.”
The law—a change to the country’s criminal code, which the lower chamber of Russia’s parliament approved on Friday—says anyone found guilty of knowingly disseminating false information and data about the use of Russia’s armed forces would be punished by a prison sentence of up to 15 years or a fine of up to 1.5 million rubles, equivalent to about $10,500.
The Times’s move comes after a number of news organizations took action in response to the new law. CNN on Friday said it would stop broadcasting in Russia, while the British Broadcasting Corp. and Bloomberg News decided to suspend the work of their journalists inside the country. The Washington Post on Saturday said it would remove bylines and datelines from certain articles as it continues to seek clarity about whether Russia’s new restrictions apply to international news organizations.
Dow Jones & Co., which publishes The Wall Street Journal, had no immediate comment on Tuesday. On Friday, a Dow Jones spokesman said: “Our top priorities are the safety of our employees and covering this important story fairly and fully. Being in Moscow, freely able to talk to officials and capture the mood, is key to that mission.”
Many tech companies are also no longer operating in Russia. Russian authorities on Friday blocked Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook in response to restrictions it said the social-media platform had placed on Russian media outlets. ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok on Sunday suspended new content from Russia in the wake of the new law, while Netflix Inc. also halted its service there.
source: https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/russia-ukraine-latest-news-2022-03-08/card/new-york-times-pulls-editorial-staff-from-russia-following-fake-news-law-X9VRfITTS5FF7XYb9S1d
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