Britain's BBC said on Friday it would temporarily suspend the work of all its journalists and support staff in Russia following the introduction of a new law that could jail anyone intentionally spreading "fake" news.
Tim Davie, the director general of the BBC, said in a statement the legislation appears to criminalise the process of independent journalism.
"It leaves us no other option than to temporarily suspend the work of all BBC News journalists and their support staff within the Russian Federation while we assess the full implications of this unwelcome development," he said.