Roskomnadzor refused to register Pskovskaya Gubernia as a media outlet due to its editor-in-chief's "foreign agent" status

Roskomnadzor refused to register the publication “Pskovskaya Guberniya” as a media outlet because its editor-in-chief Denis Kamalyagin was given the status of “foreign agent.”

This follows from the objections of the department, which were received by a journalist who challenged the refusal to register "Pskovskaya Gubernia" in court. A fragment of the document was published by the "Network Freedoms" project.

Roskomnadzor refers to Article 19.1 of the Law on Mass Media. In its latest version from July 2021, foreign states, citizens and organizations are prohibited from establishing any form of control over the founder or editorial board, as well as actually determining the decisions they make.

“The inclusion of D. N. Kamalyagin in the register of foreign media outlets performing the functions of a foreign agent indicates the existence of such indirect control,” the department’s objections state.

• In February 2020, the editorial board of Pskovskaya Gubernia stopped publishing the printed version of the publication and the media certificate was suspended, so the newspaper's website had to be re-registered, explained Denis Kamalyagin. Since then, Roskomnadzor has refused the editor-in-chief five times, citing coronavirus restrictions and violations in submitting documents.
• The last time, in August 2021, officials refused Kamalyagin, explaining that he did not have the right to register the publication under Article 19.1 of the Law on Mass Media. By that time, the editor-in-chief of Pskovskaya Gubernia had already been declared a "foreign agent", and Kamalyagin suggested that Roskomnadzor could equate this status to foreign or dual citizenship. Detailed explanations from the department were not reported at the time.
• In September, Kamalyagin filed a lawsuit against the Pskov department of Roskomnadzor for refusing to officially register the publication's website.