Duma moves forward on proposed law on banning foreign media

By JIM HEINTZ
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — The lower house of Russia’s parliament has the second reading of a proposed law that would allow the banning of foreign news media in response to other countries taking actions against Russian news outlets. Following Wednesday’s vote, the proposal must still pass a third reading in the Duma and secure the upper house’s approval before going to President Vladimir Putin to be signed into law. But the Duma’s approval on second reading almost always prefigures a law’s enactment. Russia has repeatedly complained in recent months that Western countries were improperly restricting Russian media by banning their operation or denying visas to their journalists.