INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The BBC announced Friday that it was halting its journalists' work in Russia after lawmakers moved to impose harsh jail terms for publishing
Moscow and runs a Russian-language news website, reacted after lawmakers backed new legislation imposing jail terms and fines for publishing
"knowingly false information" about the military."This legislation appears to criminalise the process of independent journalism," BBC
Director-General Tim Davie said in a statement.He warned that journalists could face "the risk of criminal prosecution simply for doing
their jobs."The legal crackdown leaves the broadcasting corporation with "no other option than to temporarily suspend the work of all BBC
News journalists and their support staff within the Russian Federation," Davie said.The lower house of parliament said in a statement that
if fake news stories "led to serious consequences, [the legislation] threatens imprisonment of up to 15 years."Amendments were also passed
and business news website The Bell, said Friday they will stop reporting on Russia's invasion of Ukraine to protect their journalists
chairman of parliament Vyacheslav Volodin railed against foreign social media after Facebook was briefly inaccessible in Russia on
Friday."All these IT companies beginning with Instagram, and ending with the others, are based in the United States of America
It is clear they are used as weapons
They carry hatred and lies
Deutsche Welle, and the Russian-language website of the United States -funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Svoboda, were "limited," said
Roskomnadzor, following a request from prosecutors.Valery Fadeyev, the head of the Kremlin's human rights council accused Western media of
attack on critical voices, Russian police on Friday were carrying out searches at the office of the country's most prominent rights group,
Memorial, which was ordered to close late last year, sparking international outcry.Russia's invasion has already claimed hundreds of
lives, displaced more than a million people and spurred allegations of war crimes.Western-led sanctions leveled against Russia in
retaliation have sent the ruble into free-fall forcing the central bank to impose a 30% tax on sales of hard currency after a run on
lenders.State-media narrativesMoscow has few economic tools with which to respond but the Duma, or lower house, on Friday adopted a bill
that would freeze any assets inside Russia of foreigners "violating rights of Russians."Russian media have been instructed to publish only
coverage.Authorities had on Tuesday blocked the Ekho Moskvy website and took the station off air as punishment for spreading "deliberately
false information" about the conflict.Its editor-in-chef Alexei Venediktov said on Telegram Friday that the station will be deleting its
restrictions that have recently appeared for the work of the media in Russia."The BBC said this week that the audience of its Russian
language news website had "more than tripled..
with a record reach of 10.7 million people in the last week."A BBC spokesperson said the company would "continue our efforts to make BBC
