By Luis Arellano

August 16, 2018 "Information Clearing House" -  Congress has passed a new law requiring foreign media outlets operating in the United States to register with the federal government. Under the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019, or NDAA, foreign media outlets who operate in the United States will have to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA. The new act has been sent to President Trump for signing.

“Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this section, and not less frequently than every 6 months thereafter, a United States-based foreign media outlet shall submit to the Commission,” the act says.

Media outlets operating in the U.S. that are funded by foreign governments (from China to Qatar) will now have to abide by the terms of the FARA Act first passed on the eve of World War II. Media outlets which seek to influence the U.S. public or advocate for particular policies must register under the act.

The law is the result of a controversy involving the practices of Qatar’s Al Jazeera. Earlier this year employees of Al Jazeera infiltrated and secretly recorded the activities of organizations that work on Israeli-American relations or combat anti-Semitism. Al Jazeera claims these activities were part of an investigative effort.

In response representatives Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1) and Josh Gottheimer (D, NJ-5) led a bipartisan effort which seeks to apply the FARA Act to Qatar’s activities. The two were joined by 16 congressman and Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in signing an open letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions urging the Trump administration to enforce the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) with respect to Al-Jazeera.

At the time Gottheimer noted “the urgent need for an investigation to determine whether Al Jazeera undertook ‘political activities’ in the U.S. and should register as a foreign agent. Now more than ever, American citizens deserve to know the difference between foreign propaganda and independent media.”

The new law will require the federal government to closely monitor these organizations. The U.S. Justice Department required Russia Today, a Russian broadcast network owned by Moscow, to register as a foreign agent under FARA in November 2017. Media outlets sponsored by Japan and South Korea have previously complied with the act.

American politicians in the 1930s worried that Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and the Soviet Union were attempting to influence U.S. foreign policy and the public in general. This led to the Foreign Agents Registration Act which was first passed in 1938 and last ammended in 1966.

This article was originally published by "American Media Institute" -