Russian parliament to bar US media designated as 'foreign agents'; tit-for-tat move follows US' blacklisting of RT channel

Moscow: Russian lawmakers on Monday drafted new regulations that would bar US media designated as foreign agents from accessing parliament’s lower house. The move is retaliation for the withdrawal of a Russian state-funded television station’s credentials in the US. The State Duma’s procedural committee proposed that the house vote on the measure Wednesday. The upper house, the Federation Council, plans to take similar action later in December. [caption id=“attachment_3538515” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Russian president Vladimir Putin. AP[/caption] In the US, a committee governing Capitol Hill access for broadcast journalists withdrew credentials for Russia’s state-funded RT television after it complied with a US demand that it register as a foreign agent. US intelligence agencies have alleged that RT served as a tool for the Kremlin to meddle in the 2016 US presidential election. Moscow has denied any interference. Russia has denounced the move as a violation of media freedom and passed a new law allowing the government to designate any international media outlet as foreign agents. The law leaves it to the Russian Justice Ministry to single them out. Foreign correspondents in Russia can currently access the parliament and some government agencies using press credentials issued by the Foreign Ministry.