Broken foreign lobbying laws are unfairly labeling environmental groups as foreign agents.
The brutal hostilities we are seeing in multiple conflicts around the world have exposed a terrible truth: We are living in an era of impunity. Attacks that kill or injure civilians, including humanitarian and health-care personnel, are devastatingly common. Yet despite widespread condemnation, serious violations of the rules of war too often go unpunished.
As written, FARA is unsuitable for our contemporary world – a world in which global interconnectivity is increasing and the roles of state and non-state actors are blurring.
Civil rights leader W.E.B. DuBois faced prison time in the 1950s because of this statute. Today, critics call it outdated and ambiguous.
While nonprofits are supportive of efforts to preserve democracy and transparency, any reforms to FARA should also include updates of the terms and definitions of the current law.
"Given the vague and broad scope of FARA, its increased enforcement – without fixing the underlying Act – will chill nonprofits from carrying out beneficial cross-border activities."