Ukraine war: BBC, CNN and Bloomberg suspend Russia operations over jail threat from new law
- Legislation criminalising the intentional spreading of ‘fake’ reports was swiftly approved by lawmakers and signed by Putin
- Officials have denied reports of Russian setbacks or civilian deaths in Ukraine, while state media refers to the invasion as a ‘special military operation’
Western media outlets, including the BBC, CNN and Bloomberg news, are temporarily suspending operations in Russia after the country’s lawmakers approved legislation criminalising reporting of the war in Ukraine that differs from the government line.
“The change to the criminal code, which seems designed to turn any independent reporter into a criminal purely by association, makes it impossible to continue any semblance of normal journalism inside the country,” Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait said in a statement.
Tim Davie, director general of the British broadcaster, said the legislation “appears to criminalise the process of independent journalism”. He said the corporation was halting newsgathering work by its journalists and support staff in Russia “while we assess the full implications of this unwelcome development”.
“The safety of our staff is paramount and we are not prepared to expose them to the risk of criminal prosecution simply for doing their jobs,” he said. Davie said the BBC’s Russian-language news service would continue to operate from outside Russia.
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Russia forces independent radio station to shut down over critical coverage of Ukraine invasion
A CNN spokesperson said the channel “will stop broadcasting in Russia while we continue to evaluate the situation and our next steps moving forward.”