Concerns over FBI investigation into Russian ‘news’ are overblown

The FBI is reportedly investigating Russian state-owned media outlets in the US for failing to register as agents of a foreign government. Yahoo News reported that news agencies Sputnik and RT are under pressure to register under a law originally passed in 1938 to stymie Nazi propaganda. The reports left some press-freedom advocates bristling at the specter of government intrusion. They worry it sets a dangerous precedent for the US government to openly brand certain news outlets as “propaganda.”

But requiring Russian state-owned media to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, is not as “Big Brother” as it sounds. FARA doesn’t add up to press censorship in this case: Outlets like Sputnik and RT aren’t conventionally seen as “the press,” and the law in no way prohibits their activities. FARA does, however, require adherents to disclose “informational material” which could, in theory, include news output.