Russian President
Vladimir Putin on Monday signed legislation allowing individuals to be labeled foreign agents, drawing criticism from rights groups that say the move will further restrict media freedoms in the country.
An initial foreign agent law was adopted by
Russia in 2012, giving authorities the power to label non-governmental organizations and
Human Rights groups as foreign agents - a term that carries a negative Soviet-era connotations.
Several rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, had called for the initiative to be dropped as it was being approved by lawmakers.