MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian Civil Chamber’s Commission on Mass Media and Communications and the Union of Journalists offered the state regulator on Friday their help amending the media law in response to the pressure Russian media outlets face abroad.

"Our Commission is ready to offer comprehensive assistance to Roskomnadzor … to draft these new norms and rules because every Western country has a raft of laws that regulate foreign media", Alexander Malkevich, the head of the Civil Chamber’s commission, told Sputnik.

The Russian Union of Journalists’ chairman, Vladimir Solovyov, told Sputnik that he was in contact with the head of Roskomnadzor.

"We will definitely discuss this topic. I think it should be discussed simultaneously at several venues, probably in the State Duma [lower house], the Federation Council [upper house], Roskomnadzor and the Union of Journalists", he suggested.

The statement comes after Roskomnadzor, the media watchdog, said a day earlier it was going to change the 1991 law to punish foreign media working in Russia for breaching impartiality rules. It said the changes would "mirror" the action by UK regulator Ofcom, which fined RT last month.

The Russian Foreign Ministry accused the United Kingdom of censoring media after Ofcom fined the RT news channel $242,000 last Friday for a series of shows aired in 2018. The ministry warned British media in Russia that they could face "consequences" in response to London’s actions.