Russia begins blocking access to pornography; also now illegal to make memes of public figures

[davidn3600]

Communications watchdog Roskomnadzor has blocked access to the Russian version of PornHub and 10 other porn sites in a move that will complicate Russians' access to online porn.

The watchdog published an online statement Monday announcing a ban on 11 websites ruled to contain unlawful pornographic content based on a Krasnodar region's court ruling.

Тhe list of banned websites includes the Russian-language version of PornHub — one of the Internet's biggest free porn portals — the Lenta.ru news website reported, citing a copy of the ruling.

PornHub.ru was unavailable Tuesday, and a message said it had been blocked for containing unlawful content.

The court said PornHub and 10 other websites violated a regulatory law protecting children from harmful information, Lenta.ru reported.

Roskomnadzor warned in its Monday statement that distributing illegal pornographic content online is punishable by a prison term of two to six years.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/529636.html

The move comes after Roskomnadzor said last week that it was illegal to make Internet memes featuring public figures in a way that does not correspond with their personality.

The media watchdog said on its VKontakte social network page that such memes violate Russian legislation on personal information and "besmirch the honor, dignity and business reputation of public figures."

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia-prepares-to-block-136-porn-websites/519015.html

[Nye Bevan]

1. What no Putin memes?

[davidn3600]

2. Careful...you'll get sent to Siberia!

[pintobean]

4. .

[Binkie The Clown]

3. We'd better all start hoarding porn before they ban it here. n/t

[Oneironaut]

5. Yes, go do something "moral" in Russia, like beating down someone who is LGBT.

Porn is obviously the worse thing there. :Sarcasm:

The mafia state's laws promoting "morality" would be laughable if they weren't so Orwellian.

[Jamastiene]

6. Glad I don't live there.

They sound like no fun at all.

[Brickbat]

7. So are these legit? Are are they saying that these do NOT correspond with Putin's personality?

[Takket]

8. what is that in the lower left? the great russian wooley white shark? LOL

[krispos42]

13. I think it's a corgi shark

:snicker:

[Takket]

9. have to wonder how many more rights can be taken away

before Russians start to push back.

[davidn3600]

11. With so much propaganda and control of the media out there, it's different to push back

The liberals and independents are being literally pushed off the stage. And if they push back they get thrown in prison (or killed like the one that was shot in Red Square recently). The public is getting a constant stream of anti-western propaganda and unchecked nationalism. Putin is leading a campaign of fear and paranoia, suggesting the world is closing in on Russia trying to destroy it and the government needs centralize power and resources to counter it. This is leading to an erosion of civil liberties and an increase in corruption and cronyism.

Political dissent is becoming more and more difficult to come by. And one of the big problems is a lot of their intellectuals are leaving. Their population is in decline. Their economy is struggling to keep its head above water. It's a bad trajectory for any nation to be on.

[Comrade Grumpy]

10. They've also threatened or blocked websites with illegal drug information.

They've gone after Wikipedia and Reddit over drug stuff.

[SidDithers]

12. Fear not! We still have rt.com!...

Though we haven't seen as much of it around here lately.

Sid