MOSCOW, December 23 (RAPSI) - The State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, has adopted in both the second and third reading a bill that would toughen control of media outlets that have international funding sources, RIA Novosti reported Wednesday.

The bill will require the said mass media to inform the Russian communications regulator Roskomnadzor about their foreign financing.

According to the bill, media outlets would face fines equal to a single or double sum of received funds for failure to report foreign budgeting; officials would pay fines of up to 50,000 rubles ($703).

However, repeated violation could result in fines ranging from 60,000 ($845) to 80,000 rubles (about $1,200) for officials, companies would face fines at the rate of a triple or fourfold sum of funds received from foreign sources.

The initiative is aimed at improving the level of information security in Russia.