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Novaya Gazeta Europe
2 days ago
- Politics
- Novaya Gazeta Europe
Russia opens criminal case against famous YouTuber for breaking ‘foreign agent' rules — Novaya Gazeta Europe
The Moscow Prosecutor's Office has opened a criminal case against Russian journalist and YouTuber Yury Dud for failing to follow rules required of him by law as a 'foreign agent', it announced on Monday. According to the prosecutors, Dud had distributed material without specifying that he had been designated a 'foreign agent'. Dud has already been fined twice this year on the same charge. The Justice Ministry added Dud, who no longer resides in Russia, to its list of 'foreign agents' on 15 April 2022, though he stopped adding the 'foreign agent' banner to his work in March 2024. Dud launched his YouTube channel, vDud, in 2017, where he conducts long-form interviews with individuals from Russia and other post-Soviet states. The channel currently has over 10 million subscribers. Under Russian law, any person or organisation deemed to have received funding from abroad or to be under 'foreign influence' must register as a 'foreign agent'. Being designated a foreign agent subjects the individual to onerous requirements and the label has been routinely abused by the authorities to intimidate and punish Kremlin critics and independent journalists. In mid-May, a Russian court demanded that Dud remove part of an interview with designer Artemy Lebedev in which the latter swore as he referred to the head of Russia's Safe Internet League Yekaterina Mizulina. The court found that their statements offended her honour and fined Lebedev 300,000 rubles (€3,300), while Dud was fined 200,000 rubles (€2,200).
Russia Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
Russian prosecutors open case against famous youtuber
Russian authorities have launched a criminal case against a popular youtuber for failing to identify as a foreign agent in his content, RIA Novosti has reported, citing sources in law enforcement. Yury Dud has over 10 million subscribers on YouTube. Dud left Russia in early 2022 shortly after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict and was designated a foreign agent in the same year. The designation requires him to identify accordingly in his content. The Moscow Prosecutor's Office has reportedly begun a criminal investigation, stating the 38-year-old was fined twice in the past year for distributing content without the required disclaimer. Despite this, he continued to publish materials on social media without proper labeling, they say. Dud, a former sports journalist turned interviewer and documentary filmmaker, rose to prominence through his YouTube channel 'vDud'. His content includes interviews with public figures and documentaries on social, political, and historical topics. Russia's foreign agent law, modeled after similar US legislation, applies the label to a person or entity engaged in financial or political activities in the interests of a foreign state. Originally adopted in 2012, the law has been amended multiple times since, due to what Moscow views as increasing Western influence. Those designated as foreign agents are not banned from operating in Russia but are subject to a range of restrictions. They must label all their content accordingly, regularly submit detailed financial reports to the Justice Ministry, and disclose their funding sources. Failure to do so is punishable by up to two years in prison.
