Russia has declared Germany's international public broadcaster, Deutsche Welle an "undesirable organisation". The Justice ministry placed DW on the list of „undesirable organizations” on December 16, following the decision by the Prosecutor General's Office from December 1. 

DW has joined a list of another 289 organizations which also includes Russian-language media outlets such as the television channel TV Rain and online publications Novaya Gazeta and Meduza.

Authorities have been able to designate organizations "undesirable" after a 2015 law declared that any noncommercial body with foreign connections or funding that could allegedly constitute a threat to Russia's constitutional order could be shut down. The law was used mainly to shut down foreign nongovernmental organizations and included the Moscow offices of Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other NGOs.

In July 2024, Russia's parliament passed amendments to the law that declared that any organization with founders or participants who are foreign government agencies could be designated "undesirable." This broadened which organizations could fall into that category. 

DW, which was classified as a "foreign agent" by Russia's government in 2022, is funded by Germany's federal budget. It is however not a government organization and editorially independent. Though the Moscow bureau was closed in 2022, the "foreign agent" label has since been extended to individual DW reporters working in Russia.

DW's 'undesirable' designation

Legal problems for DW viewers, listeners and followers in Russia begin if authorities define an individual's behavior as "participation in the activities of an undesirable organization," said Ivan Pavlov, a Russian lawyer-in-exile and founder of the legal group, Pervy Otdel (First Department).

This could include reposting broadcast or written material on social networks.

"Even an old long-standing link to a publication by such a media outlet on someone's page can become grounds for initiating an administrative case," Pavlov told DW. "And, later, if something else is found after an administrative penalty, a criminal case."

Even mentioning an "undesirable" organization in a public chat or on a website could lead to prosecution. People deemed to be participating in the activities of "undesirable" organizations may be penalized with fines that range from 5,000 to 15,000 Russian rubles (€53-€160/$63-$190).

There may be grounds for criminal prosecution. "If, after an administrative penalty, the 'offense' is repeated within a year, criminal liability applies," Pavlov said.

Working for such an organization would bring even more serious consequences. Managers of "undesirable" organizations face immediate criminal prosecution, as do people who finance them through, for example, donations. Individuals who participate in the output of an "undesirable" organization — say, by commenting for a written story or taking part in a broadcast — could also be prosecuted, he said.

As for social media, there hasn't been a regular practice of prosecuting a person for simply "liking" something relating to an "undesirable" organization. "But, if there's a will," Pavlov said, "one could probably make it fit." 

Subscribing to media pages declared "undesirable" on social media networks and reading or viewing their publications without reposting anything is still considered safe, Pavlov said.

As for videos broadcast by "undesirable" organizations on a platform such as YouTube, Pavlov said, "watching is allowed; touching — meaning distributing — is not."

Based on what he and his colleagues have observed in similar cases, Pavlov said: "A repost, a hyperlink, a comment — all of this may be interpreted as participation in the activities of an 'undesirable' organization. Any payment to a media outlet designated 'undesirable' — for example, a donation or payment for advertising — will also be considered a criminal offense."

There are still ways of safely interacting with an organization designated "undesirable" in Russia. These include installing a media outlet's dedicated app on a smartphone, listening to podcasts and reading publications on the website, and usually using a virtual private network, or VPN, so that one's location remains private.

Android users can download the DW Access app for safer browsing.

This article was originally written in Russian.