Al Jazeera’s AJ+ ordered to register as foreign agent

September 14, 2020
The U.S. Department of Justice ordered Al Jazeera’s U.S.-based social media division, AJ+, to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act on Sept. 14, 2020.In a letter obtained by Mother Jones, Jay Bratt, chief of the DOJ’s counterintelligence and export control section, wrote that AJ+ acts “at the direction and control” of the leaders of Qatar.“Despite assertions of editorial independence and freedom of expression, Al Jazeera Media Network and its affiliates are controlled and funded by …

U.S.-based news outlets funded by Russia ordered to register as foreign agents

January 1, 2019
RM Broadcasting and RIA Global LLC — U.S.-based news organizations funded by the Russian government — were ordered to register as foreign agents under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.RIA Global, which produces content for the Russian state-owned news outlet Sputnik, was ordered to register under FARA in January 2018. RM Broadcasting was also ordered to register around the same time, but the outlet’s owner Arnold Ferolito filed a lawsuit over the order.On May 7, 2019, a federal judge rejected RM …