Russian lawmakers moved Friday to impose harsh jail terms for publishing "fake news" about the army, which will apply to foreigners as well, as Moscow moves to muffle dissent over its invasion of Ukraine.
The new legislation sets out jail terms of varying lengths and fines against people who publish "knowingly false information" about the military.
"If the fakes led to serious consequences, (the legislation) threatens imprisonment of up to 15 years," the lower house of parliament said in a statement.
Speaking at the session, the head of the parliament's information committee Alexander Khinshtein said the law "concerns all citizens, not only Russian ones because we are talking about actions against Russia."
Amendments were also passed to fine or jail people calling for sanctions against Russia with jail terms.
The past year has seen an unprecedented crackdown on independent and critical voices in Russia that has intensified since the invasion.
The 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. We need to oppose this," he said.
Russia's media watchdog said Friday it had restricted access to the BBC and other independent media websites, further tightening controls over the internet.
The new legislation sets out jail terms of varying lengths and fines against people who publish "knowingly false information" about the military.
"If the fakes led to serious consequences, (the legislation) threatens imprisonment of up to 15 years," the lower house of parliament said in a statement.
Speaking at the session, the head of the parliament's information committee Alexander Khinshtein said the law "concerns all citizens, not only Russian ones because we are talking about actions against Russia."
Amendments were also passed to fine or jail people calling for sanctions against Russia with jail terms.
The past year has seen an unprecedented crackdown on independent and critical voices in Russia that has intensified since the invasion.
The 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. We need to oppose this," he said.
Russia's media watchdog said Friday it had restricted access to the BBC and other independent media websites, further tightening controls over the internet.
