United States – Al-Jazeera was put under heavy scrutiny when the Department of Justice beared down on them with an order to be registered under the FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) with the Trump administration citing they were working on behalf of the Qatari government and their agenda.
AJ+, the Al-Jazeera social media network was told to get registration just like the other networks such as Russia’s RT and Sputnik, Turkish public broadcaster TRT, and five Chinese media outlets which were told to register in accordance to the FARA.
“Despite assertions of editorial independence and freedom of expression, Al Jazeera Media Network and its affiliates are controlled and funded by the Government of Qatar” said Jay Bratt, chief of the DOJ’s counterintelligence and export control section.
Many coincidences fell into play including the recent UAE-Israel diplomatic deal that Al-Jazeera’s spokesperson claimed was a day before they issued an order to register as a foreign agent despite the order being pushed since early 2017 by law firm, Akin Gump who are registered as a foreign agent in the United Arab Emirates.
The lobbyist firm pushed to have the news group registered with a mission to end it’s narrative view of the Arab world and it’s inner workings with UAE citing that it painted the Islamic world differently for the world that brought more harm than good to the image Emiratis have been trying to drive for since their mission to reflect a positive light in the GCC.
“The UAE dislikes Al Jazeera partly for the narrative that the network provides across the Arab and Islamic world that exposes audiences to a point of view that is very different from the messaging the Emiratis have been trying to impose on the region since the Arab Spring.
In the eyes of Qatar’s critics, Al Jazeera has also become so synonymous with Qatar in the regional and international mindset that any setback to Al Jazeera cannot but be perceived as a blow to Qatar.” said Middle Eastern politics scholar at the Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, Kristian Ulrichsen.
Other lobbyists including Akin Gump had received more than $56 million if fees to push the filing with DOJ since 2017 with the aim of curtailing the rhetoric that Al-Jazeera has been disseminating among it’s viewers with its pro-Palestine stance,Qatari-sympathetic views, Anti-Saudi and UAE message on Yemen’s war and for questioning the U.S’s support of Israel.
“Hobbling Al Jazeera was one of the top conditions of the UAE’s blockade against Qatar and the Justice Department just gave the UAE what it wanted. We are deeply disappointed by the Department’s decision, which runs counter to the extensive factual record we provided demonstrating that FARA registration is not applicable to AJ+. The legal structure, editorial structure, editorial policies, budgeting process and content of AJ+ clearly demonstrate its independence. We are reviewing the determination and considering our options.” said Al-Jazeera’s spokesperson when questioned how the FARA would affect the news outlet.
