海角大神

Until last month, had been enjoying remarkable success in its coverage of Russia.

Though headquartered beyond the reach of Russian authorities in neighboring Latvia, Meduza has maintained a full staff of reporters and editors in Russia, and focused most of its tough and widely acclaimed reporting on Russian affairs. It financed itself through advertising revenue generated in Russia and fees for 鈥渟ponsored content鈥� mainly produced for Russian companies, including state corporations. Last year Meduza calculated its regular Russian readership at about 14 million.

But that all changed in April when, without explanation, the Russian Justice Ministry branded Meduza The new official designation immediately sent advertisers running for the hills.

鈥淥ur situation now is quite dire,鈥� says Alexey Kovalev, an investigations editor with Meduza. 鈥淏efore this, Russian companies saw us as a reputable news organization, with responsible content. Already most of our advertisers have fled.鈥�

Meduza is not alone. As U.S.-Russian relations plumb new depths, opposition-minded Russian activists are getting a painful taste of an experience that was very familiar to Soviet-era dissidents: The worse relations got between the USSR and the West, the harder the Kremlin cracked down on its domestic critics.

In recent months, Russian authorities have , and have introduced what many are calling , ending the more relaxed early decades of the Putin era. Many activists who had hitherto been officially tolerated have been arrested, and formerly acceptable civil society groups shut down. What most of these new prosecutions have in common is an explicit effort by authorities to link internal dissent with the alleged machinations of the external foe. The list of groups deemed to be 鈥�foreign agents,鈥� meaning actors who influence domestic politics while receiving funding from outside sources, has been expanded and now potentially includes almost any independent media and their employees.

While the urge to blame nefarious foreign meddling for internal discord is , it has long been an effective tool wielded by Moscow authorities to socially isolate and demonize domestic opponents by tarring them with enemy associations. But, amid the worst slump in Russia鈥檚 relations with the West since the peak of the Cold War, it has become the Kremlin鈥檚 go-to explanation for a sweeping crackdown on domestic political opposition.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not about what Russian leaders think, it鈥檚 what they fear,鈥� says Masha Lipman, editor of Counterpoint, a journal of Russian affairs published by George Washington University. 鈥淲e are witnessing this downward spiral in relations, day by day. In the Kremlin they wonder just how much more hostile could the West become toward Russia? The deeper those animosities become, the tougher Russian authorities are on those people at home that are seen as sympathetic to the West.

鈥淭he logic becomes that if you are criticizing the Russian government, then you are acting in the interests of the West, maybe even at their direction,鈥� she says.

Branding critics as foreign agents

The most prominent target so far is imprisoned anti-corruption champion Alexei Navalny, accused of being a tool of Western intelligence services. Many of his key supporters, and even his lawyer, have been arrested in the past couple of weeks. Mr. Navalny鈥檚 nationwide network of support groups in anticipation of being labeled 鈥渆xtremists鈥� under the law and forcibly shut down.

For Meduza, says Mr. Kovalev, the fact that it earned most of its revenue inside Russia, and not from any kind of foreign entities, has been turned against it by the 鈥渇oreign agent鈥� label. Now any publication on Meduza鈥檚 Russian website, or any reposting of it on social media, must be prefaced with a paragraph of large-type text that warns readers that the following content 鈥渇ulfills the functions of a foreign agent鈥� inside Russia.

Ints Kalnins/Reuters/File

Journalists work in the independent media outlet Meduza's office in Riga, Latvia, March 30, 2015. Though headquartered outside Russia, Meduza is focused squarely on Russian news and investigations, and draws much of its income from Russian advertisers.

鈥淭hat 鈥榝oreign agent鈥� warning is 221 characters long; it takes up almost an entire tweet,鈥� he says. 鈥淥ur Twitter feed, which had 1.3 million subscribers, has been rendered useless,鈥� says Mr. Kovalev. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 clear that this is not about the 鈥榝oreign鈥� thing at all, but the 鈥榓gent鈥� thing, implying that we are the puppet of some outside force. Which we are not. Meduza has never taken direction from any government, or other agency, or anyone but our own editorial board.鈥�

Supporters of the law claim that the extension of 鈥渇oreign agent鈥� labeling to media outlets was in response to to compel the Kremlin-funded, English-language TV network RT to register as a 鈥渇oreign agent鈥� three years ago. They also point to what they call anti-Russian steps taken by other governments, such as in Ukraine. A recent crackdown , where Meduza is based, is another justification often mentioned by pro-Kremlin Russian commentators.

Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, says that Russian leaders perceive a new level of hostility from the West, particularly the United States, and that means that Russia needs to take preemptive measures to protect itself.

鈥淲e have seen false charges against Russian leaders, accusing Putin of trying to poison Navalny, and then Joe Biden calling Putin a 鈥榢iller.鈥� Russia has information that Western secret services were planning a coup d鈥檈tat in Belarus. We know that they are planning to interfere in the upcoming Duma [parliamentary] elections in September,鈥� he says. 鈥淭his is a whole new level of hostility against Russia. It creates a state of emergency, and it must be responded to.鈥�

Evidence suggests that majorities in Russia accept their government鈥檚 explanations and that Kremlin opponents like Mr. Navalny are working at the behest of Western interests.

鈥淭his method of branding critics as foreign agents works,鈥� says Ms. Lipman. 鈥淥f course it depends on age, and social group, but at the end of the day people look at things like the constant sanctions against Russia, and they agree with the claim that the West is seeking to harm us.鈥�

Mr. Kovalev, the Meduza editor, agrees that independent journalists and civil society activists may be in some sense hostages to international tensions. 鈥淥f course we would be targeted in this geopolitical game,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat explains it, but doesn鈥檛 justify it.鈥�

He adds, 鈥淚 have never seen things so bad. More and more people are getting arrested, and maybe it鈥檚 just because they haven鈥檛 come for me yet, but I don鈥檛 feel apocalyptic. Maybe Russian civil society is strong enough to survive. ... These are old people in the Kremlin. We are younger; we can outlive them.鈥�