Russian lawmakers expand “undesirable organizations” law — any foreign entity can now receive the label

Cover photo: A view of the State Duma building, the lower house of Russia's parliament, in central Moscow on October 27, 2022. Source: Kirill Kudryavtsev / AFP via Getty Images

Lawmakers in Russia’s State Duma voted on Tuesday to broaden the scope of the country’s “undesirable” organization law to include any entities affiliated with foreign governments.

Prior to the passage of the bill, only non-profits and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) registered outside Russia could be labeled as “undesirable.”

Ivan Pavlov, founder of the Perviy Otdel human rights group, earlier commented that these amendments could lead to multiple foreign media outlets being banned across the country. According to Pavlov, many well-known and popular global media, such as the BBC or Deutsche Welle, now risk becoming “undesirable” in Russia.

Current law allowed the Russian authorities to impose criminal penalties for involvement with “undesirable organizations.” The maximum prison sentences stipulated are:

• Up to 6 years for organizing an “undesirable” organization’s activities in Russia
• Up to 5 years for financing an “undesirable” organization
• Up to 4 years for repeated participation in the activities of an “undesirable” organization

First-time participation in an “undesirable” organization’s activities will result in a fine.

Moscow introduced the “undesirable” designation in 2015 to crack down on foreign NGOs, banning Russians from working with or donating to these organizations. The law has since been used against independent media outlets, human rights groups, environmental organizations (such as Greenpeace), and educational institutions. The Insider and Bellingcat were branded as “undesirable” in July 2022.

This status is conferred not by the courts, but by Russia’s General Prosecutor’s Office in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, though it can be challenged. The Ministry of Justice is required to maintain a register of these organizations.

Entities labeled as “undesirable” are barred from establishing subsidiaries in Russia, and their websites are subject to blocking.

The General Prosecutor's Office has previously recognized the activities of multiple other Russian independent opposition media outlets — including Meduza, Important Stories, Proekt, and Novaya Gazeta Europe — as “undesirable.”

In April 2024, The Insider confirmed that the Russian government maintains an informal list of “undesirable organizations” beyond those included on its official registry. These include the American Councils for International Education, Cultural Perspectives, and the Institute of International Education — NGOs that have run educational programs and student exchanges in Russia and other countries for many years.

The most recent “undesirable” labels were handed in July 2024 to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and The Moscow Times. Russia has so far designated 178 organizations as “undesirable.”