Russia is to be put on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS), meaning anyone working for the Russian state in the UK will need to declare what they are doing or risk jail, the government announced […]
Introduced under the National Security Act 2023, FIRS is a tool to help protect our democracy, economy and society from covert, deceptive or otherwise harmful activities against UK interests. The enhanced tier has been specifically designed to shed light on activities directed by particular foreign powers which pose a threat to the safety or interests of the UK.
Russia is the second country to be placed on the enhanced tier, following the announcement in March that Iran would be specified. The government will designate all parts of the Russian state – including its president, its parliament, all Russian ministries and their agencies, and the Russian intelligence services.
The specification of the Russian state is in response to the significant and persistent threat Russia poses to the UK and our interests, which has only increased in recent years. Russian hostile acts on UK soil have ranged from the use of a deadly nerve agent in Salisbury, malign cyber incidents - which included targeting UK parliamentarians through spear-phishing campaigns - as well as espionage and arson.
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Meanwhile, Russia continues to wage its unprovoked and illegal war against Ukraine, a war which Russia could end by tomorrow by withdrawing its forces. The UK remains committed to a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and will continue to exert maximum economic pressure to stop Russia from threatening and undermining Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence, and to help ensure Russia pays for the damage it has caused.
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There’s a big grey area. Someone might be doing a podcast talking about a bunch of appealing topics for young men looking for their path in life, and every so often just slip in some talking points about immigrants buying up all the housing and that’s why their rent is so high, how badly the liberal party betrayed the voters and how the conservatives are going to give them their country back, that kind of thing. Le Pen got a raw deal, all she’s trying to do is save her country and the corrupt forces that dominate politics took her down for their own reasons. Look at this migrant who assaulted these innocent people, I’m just saying it’s a problem, it’s not racist, it’s reality.
And lo and behold someone might find out that that podcaster along with 200 others is being paid by Russia to destabilize British society and support the leaders that will serve Russia’s geopolitical goals. Should we put that podcaster in prison, or else force them to be honest with the British government about what they’re doing, so they can at a bare minimum keep some tabs on it? I mean, it’s not enough, but such a law sounds like a good start to me.
Russia has been exploiting the open nature of societies outside itself, and getting away with it to enact a whole lot of harm. Like a lot. It’s time to stop being polite with them and the people that are helping them do it.
I wish I could give your comment more than one upvote. I think the vast majority of us are not fully aware that we’re in the middle of an active Russian propaganda campaign. Apparently there are at least 10,000 people in Russia employed full-time on this and a tiny fraction of that here to try and combat it.
I think this is the first time our society has been subject to a state-backed propaganda campaign since the widespread adoption of the internet (which is of course not regulated like ‘legacy media’ is) and so it makes sense that most people aren’t really on their guard for it. The government has no excuse though. They are reported to by the intelligence services, who know exactly what is happening here.