Russian President Vladimir Putin signed changes to his country's election laws on Tuesday that place new restrictions on media coverage and opposition campaigns ahead of Russia's next presidential election.
According to a report by the Associated Press (AP), the new amendments restrict coverage of Russia's election commission sessions to only accredited journalists employed by registered media outlets. The changes could mean that freelance journalists and independent reporters will be barred from covering the meetings.
Putin has yet to say if he will be running for reelection in Russia's election scheduled for March 2024, although the 71-year-old Kremlin leader is expected to announce his bid for a fifth term in the coming weeks, reported the independent Russian newspaper The Moscow Times.
Tuesday's changes also bar media personnel from covering any actions by Russia's election commission at military bases or in territories under martial law without prior permission. Parts of eastern and southern Ukraine that were illegally annexed by Putin last fall have been under martial law for nearly a year.
As the Moscow Times reported, such changes to Russia's election laws will make it more difficult for media outlets to document cases of voter fraud. Nearly all of Russia's mass media outlets are Kremlin-controlled, according to a March report by the BBC, and most independent and opposition media sources have been forced to shut down or leave the country to operate outside of Russia's borders since the start of the war in Ukraine.
AP reported that Putin's new amendments also prohibited any candidates from campaigning on "blocked resources." The Kremlin banned access to platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter in March 2022 to reduce the spread of dissent to its invasion of Ukraine. Such websites can still be accessed by Russian citizens using a VPN to bypass the blockage, AP noted.
Public support for Putin's invasion of Ukraine has wavered since the start of the war in February 2022, reaching an all-time low in opinion polls in September with just 38 percent of respondents indicating that they "definitely" support the Kremlin's military actions.
Another public survey conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) in September also indicated that Russian citizens may be looking at what life could look like after Putin's presidency, who has held office for nearly 24 years. Still, there is little doubt that Putin will be reelected in March, and there have been no indications of a serious political contender that may threaten his campaign.
Last month, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin would have zero competition if he chooses to run in March 2024, adding, "Putin is definitely the number one politician and statesman in our country."
"I believe, although I hardly have the right to speak about this or that, but, breaking the rules, I can say that he has no competitors and cannot have any in Russia," Peskov told reporters.
Newsweek reached out to Russia's Foreign Ministry via email for comment.
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