How “Foreign Agent” Laws Harm Freedom

Welcome to IWPR’s Frontline Update, your go-to source to hear from journalists and local voices at the front lines of conflict.

 THE BIG PICTURE  

Foreign agent laws are one of the most common legal tools used for repression today. Often modelled on Russia’s 2012 landmark legislation that crushed independent civil society and media, governments around the world are using them to silence critics, control information and curb freedoms.

 VOICES FROM THE FRONTLINE 

“Since it came into force in June 2025, El Salvador’s Foreign Agents Law has contributed to a significant crackdown on independent media, forcing a substantial number of journalists and media professionals into exile,” said Dhaniella Falk, IWPR Latin America and the Caribbean programme director.

These laws, targeting groups receiving foreign funding, are so effective because they appear legal and bureaucratic, framed as addressing a national security issue. In practice most repressive versions define a “foreign agent” extremely broadly, allowing authorities to single out journalists, opposition figures or human rights groups.

“For at least five years, Salvadoran society has faced shrinking access to information and civic oversight amid growing government opacity,” Falk continued. “The Foreign Agents Law arose in this context and has further deepened these restrictions, accelerating the erosion of independent information, civic participation, and human rights defence.”

In Georgia, the state cracked down on a popular protest movement and fears the law would end EU integration and limit civic freedom.

“Government actors and its allied media ran a coordinated campaign to delegitimise civil society, independent media and discredit its leaders,” said Beka Bajelidze, Caucasus and Moldova Regional Director. The law has been in force since May 2025, with ruinous consequences.

“That aggressive government rhetoric and further punitive legal measures have created a climate of fear, leading to a rapid decline in the number of media outlets and in investigative and news reporting.”

The impact can go far beyond a crackdown on media to effectively hollow out civil society.

“Kyrgyzstan’s 2024 Foreign Representatives Law—a near-exact replica of the Russian model—has effectively dismantled what was once Central Asia’s most vibrant civil society,” said Abakhon Sultonnazarov, Central Asia Programme Director, noting that over a third of vital social programmes had been suspended.  “This shift from democratic partnership to state control not only threatens activists with ten-year prison terms but also jeopardises the country’s commitment to UN sustainable development goals by weakening essential state-civil partnerships.”

 WHY IT MATTERS 

The term “foreign agent” itself deliberately loaded, intended to isolate and destroy credibility. It implies disloyalty, signals to the public that the person or group is an “enemy” and scares partners, donors and audiences away.

Even when laws are not fully enforced or arrests made, they have a chilling effect. People stop accepting foreign grants, journalists avoid sensitive topics, NGOs scale down and citizens disengage from politics.

 THE BOTTOM LINE 

IWPR has long worked at the critical nexus between media and civil society that proves so effective in driving change.

From independent watchdogs and investigative reporting to anticorruption and human right advocacy, this interconnectivity allows societies to thrive and grow. Legislation that frames these actors as traitors or malign forces does not protect sovereignty; it can only hamper freedom.