A number of global media companies such as CNN, Bloomberg News, BBC, ABC, CBS News, CBC/Radio-Canada, EFE, and RAI will cease operations in Russia. The media outlets have reportedly made such decisions because Russia adopted a new law penalising those who spread fake news with up to 15 years in prison.
These reports were backed by Bloomberg's Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait, who stated 'the change to the criminal code, which seems designed to turn any independent reporter into a criminal purely by association, makes it impossible to continue any semblance of normal journalism inside the country'.