Why did bill to stem ‘foreign influence’ trigger protests in Georgia over country’s media freedom?

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia has been engulfed by huge protests triggered by a proposed law that critics see as a threat to media freedom and the country’s aspirations to join the European Union. The bill would require media and non-governmental organizations and other nonprofits to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20% of funding from abroad. The governing Georgian Dream party says the bill is necessary to stem what it deems harmful foreign influence over the country’s political scene. The opposition denounces the bill as “the Russian law” because Moscow uses similar legislation to stigmatize independent news media and organizations critical of the Kremlin.