RM Broadcasting Foreign Agent Case Shows DOJ Stepping Up FARA Enforcement
DOJ’s recent successful court battle to require Florida company RM Broadcasting register as a foreign agent for arranging broadcasts of Russian state-owned media “demonstrates renewed effort” by the agency to enforce the Foreign Agents Registration Act, DOJ said Monday. The…
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case was the first FARA civil enforcement action since 1991, and was decided in Florida federal court last week (in Pacer). DOJ had argued that by arranging broadcasts of Russian radio service Sputnik on WZHF(AM) Capitol Heights, Maryland, RM Broadcasting has been acting as an agent of Russian government-controlled news agency Rossiya Segodnya. RM sued DOJ in October and DOJ brought a counterclaim. Though RM Broadcasting had argued that it merely brokers the sale of airtime and had no part in content decisions, the court ruled last week that RM’s contract with Rossiya Segodnya requires it to perform a variety of services for the news agency that amount to acting as its agent. “The language of the Services Agreement contradicts RM Broadcasting’s assertion that it only buys and resells radio airtime,” said the judgment. RM Broadcasting’s attorney Nicole Waid, of FisherBroyles, said in an interview the company is evaluating options for an appeal. DOJ’s ramping up of FARA enforcement against broadcasters is a response to a 2016 Office of Inspector General report that identified FARA as an underutilized rule. So far, the agency has gone only after smaller companies such as RM Broadcasting and Reston Translator (see 1712040054), but FARA’s broad language could allow the agency to bring the same sort of enforcement actions against larger Internet and cable companies, Waid said. “Our concern is, where does it stop?” Waid said. “The American people have a right to know if a foreign flag waves behind speech broadcast in the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers in the release.