In contemporary English, the term has a generally pejorative connotation, reinforced by its use in the US laws aimed to curb the foreign influence.
In the first report on FARA to the congress, Attorney General stated that an agent includes a person funded by a foreign principal.
The two court rulings in 1943 emphasized that where the foreign principal paid for the specific publications registration of the publisher as an agent could be warranted.
In 1981, in another case, appellate court found that even the identical leadership and the financial connection were not sufficient to grant summary judgement and a full trial was required since mere provision of funds was insufficient and that "[n]o request, order, command, or directive was ever shown".
In 2020, National Wildlife Federation was ordered to register as a foreign agent because the grants which it received were linked to specific programs it should have carried out, thus, it fell under "request".
[7] Per FARA, the foreign principal must be setting an agenda (not NGOs choosing freely their area of work) and donors must have primary interest in the activities.
Nevertheless, it can be considered that donors exercise considerable influence over a recipient when the foreign funding of an NGO is an economic necessity for it, and it does not really have much of a free choice.
[15] The law was initially likened to FARA[16] ("On their face, the laws seem similar, but their implementation has differed"[17]) although its scope has since been expanded significantly to include anyone who has received foreign support of any kind or has ever been "affiliated" with foreign actors;[18] registrants are also prohibited from receiving state funding, teaching at state universities, or working with children.
[20] In 2023, People's Power and Georgian Dream submitted a draft of a new foreign agent law to the Parliament of Georgia.
[24][11] The bill was reintroduced in April 2024, with the ruling party head Mamuka Mdinaradze citing "the continued circulation of slush funds" and the need for transparency as the reason.
[26][27] On 13 June 2017, the Hungarian National Assembly adopted the Law No LXXVI of 2017 on the Transparency of Organisations which receive Support from Abroad.
Australia's Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Act (FITSA), enacted in December 2018, is based explicitly on FARA and was drafted in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Justice.
[30] Like its American counterpart, FITSA establishes registration obligations for individuals and entities that undertake certain activities aimed at "political or governmental influence" on behalf of foreign principles.
The law imposes a lifetime obligation on former cabinet ministers to register any activity they undertake on behalf of a foreign principal unless an exemption applies.
[31] In the wake of high-profile events - in particular, Chinese attempts to interfere in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections and the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar - the government of Justin Trudeau came under political pressure to establish a foreign agents' registry.
[35] The Trudeau government proposed the Countering Foreign Interference Act, which was approved by the Parliament of Canada on June 20, 2024.