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The
investigation, which will be conducted by the Duma's information
policy, technologies and communications committee, will check
whether CNN, the Voice of America, Radio Liberty and "other
American media" are complying with Russian law.
The statement said the Duma backed the move on Friday evening
after Konstantin Zatulin, an MP from the pro-Kremlin United
Russia party, proposed an investigation to retaliate for what he
called a "repressive" U.S. move against Russian state-funded
broadcaster RT.
He said he was referring to an initiative by U.S. Senator Jeanne
Shaheen, who has introduced a bill to empower the Justice
Department to investigate possible violations of the Foreign
Agents Registration Act by RT.
Shaheen, a Democrat, cited a U.S. intelligence agency assessment
that suggested RT was part of a Russian influence campaign to
help Donald Trump win the White House last year. The Kremlin and
RT have strongly rejected that allegation.
Foreign media in Russia are overseen by the Russian Foreign
Ministry, whose spokeswoman Maria Zakharova this week singled
out Shaheen's demarche for criticism, quipping ironically that
the senator should have included a clause drawing up a list of
books for burning.
The U.S. move also solicited the ire of Margarita Simonyan, RT's
editor-in-chief, who on Wednesday told the daily Izvestia it had
echoes of the activities of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, who
oversaw a campaign to expose people he regarded as communists in
the 1950s.
(Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Julia Glover)
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