Two of the biggest porn websites on the Internet have been blocked in Russia. Roskomnadzor, Russia’s government-controlled Internet watchdog, has ordered all the ISPs in the country to block user access to the adult websites, PornHub and YouPorn.
The move comes following a prolonged legal battle that began in May 2016 when a Russian court had ordered a ban on the two websites for violating “the ban on the dissemination of information regarding the production of pornographic materials and paraphernalia.”
Watching porn is legal in Russia, but filming and/or distributing adult content is not under the article 242 of the Russian Federation’s Criminal Code.
Worth noting, this is not the first time Russia has attempted to block access to PornHub. In September 2015, the government had another shot at blocking the site following a court order. Although, that judgment was later reversed.
Meanwhile, this new ban will also go through a review by a court later this year, but till then fans won’t be able to legally access either of the sites.
https://twitter.com/phoenixd12/status/776058949472747521
Expectedly, the ban didn’t go down too well with many netizens who took to social media to slam the government for what they perceived to be an unfair and dictatorial crackdown. Roskomnadzor, however, didn’t seem deterred by the criticisms and at one point of time, even asked a female Twitter user to “meet someone in real life” instead of spending time watching porn.