Russian Govt Blocks Porn Sites In The Country
Russia has blocked two major porn websites after a court ruling said the websites “spread pornography”.
The sites – Pornhub and YouPorn were blocked by the Russian communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, which is known in English as the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media.
According to the ruling, the sites are detrimental to the development of children. The bans were first implemented on 11 porn sites last year, saying many failed to protect children “from information harmful to their health”.
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The sites now redirect to a message explaining they have been blocked “by decision of public authorities”.
The Russian media watchdog also received an offer of a free premium account from Pornhub in return for lifting the ban, which it promptly declined.
“If we give you guys a Pornhub Premium account, will you un ban Pornhub in Russia?” the site wrote.
“Sorry, we are not in the market and the demography is not a commodity,” Roskomnadzor answered.
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Roskomnadzor’s spokesman Vadim Ampelonsky told RIA Novosti state news agency that lifting the ban was possible “only after a complete change in the sites’ repertoire,” a news agency reported.
Following the 2015 ban, one woman asked Roskomnadzor on Twitter whether it could recommend an alternative.
The agency replied: “You can meet someone in real life.”
The company reiterated that its earlier tweet was “still relevant”.
In recent years, the Russian government has issued temporary bans on various adult Internet sites.
