05 Aug 13 | Digital Freedom, News and features, Russia
(Photo: David von Blohn / Demotix)
Открытое письмо Эдварду Сноудену
Dear Ed,
Yesterday I learned that you have managed to gain temporary asylum in Russia. Congratulations on behalf of progressive people everywhere. At last, you are safe.
Here in Russia no one would dream of harassing you for exposing the security services when they listen to telephone conversations and read others letters without a warrant. Russia, thank God, is a law-abiding State and ever since 2008 our security services have had a quite legal right to listen to whatever people are talking about on the phone and to read their e-mails.
Everyone is aware of this, and there is nothing here in Russia to expose.
While you are only just beginning to get acquainted, however, with the aspects of liberty in our society, let me give you some modest advice. Russia, It goes without saying, has its own way of doing things and it would be better if you knew about this in advance.
One, feel free to take up whatever activity you like.
This is not the USA, Ed, where exposing the activities of the government carries unpleasant consequences. There is nothing of the kind here. On the contrary, people who expose the American government are given all kinds of rewards and can enjoy a fine career, which I wish for you. I would just remind you not to forget which government you are fighting against. For were you, in the heat of the moment, to get confused about this you would have to return to a little room again (and this time, most likely, it would not be at the airport).
Two, it would be best, old chap, if you grasp from the beginning that Russia is a spiritual country.
Perhaps in the USA they taught you that Russia’s wealth lies in its oil and its timber. Well, that has long ceased to be the case. All the oil was stolen back in 2004 by Mikhail Khodorkovsky and all our forest reserves will soon have been stolen by Alexei Navalny. So today our spiritual wealth can best be expressed as “Orthodoxy, Autocracy and Populism”. Orthodoxy is a very liberal religion. You may drink alcohol, eat pork, or, like Abbot Timothy, drive your BMW roadster while under the influence – in short, do whatever you like. You mustn’t dance, that’s the main thing. Dancing is a crime. But you’re no dancer, Ed, so it’s not a problem as far as you’re concerned. Autocracy is Russia’s form of democracy. It’s very spiritual and you’ll like it. Every few years we re-elect Vladimir Putin. Putin recently caught the biggest catfish in the world. The very biggest was caught by Lukashenko. That’s all you need to know about politics in the Commonwealth of Independent States – if you don’t want to return, that is, to a little room in a hotel somewhere like Krasnokamsk. Populism: that means the national spirit and you can get acquainted with it by listening to the songs of Stas Mikhailov, though my advice to you would be, Don’t.
Three, please don’t imagine I have any objections, it’s a matter of indifference to me, but it would be better if you’re not gay. If you are, well, don’t leave the hotel. If you’re Jewish then you won’t be able to work as a rural schoolteacher. Does that strike you as silly advice? Ed, I know what I’m talking about. Take my word for it.
I hear that your defence lawyer Kucherena has given you Crime and Punishment. It’s an excellent book. Do read it, and do so BEFORE you encounter a certain middle-aged lady called Yelena Mizulina. Don’t do anything you might come to repent of later! No matter how noble the idea that guided your actions.
Lastly, a couple of practical suggestions.
Do not commit any offences when you’re out driving until you have been elected deputy of one assembly or another. Don’t waste your money buying a flat – all you have to do is become friendly with Ramzan Kadyrov. Learn to play badminton and if someone offers to help you run for Mayor of Moscow, do not agree. It’s a trap! There are three simple rules you must remember: Do not wear white, at least not when you’re near Bolotnaya Square; Don’t walk about in tight-fitting garments anywhere within sight of the State Duma; and Don’t Dance within the vicinity of a church.
Please don’t imagine that I am trying to scare you. On the contrary. You can do everything else that I haven’t mentioned above. If you want to tell lies, go ahead; if you want to steal, be my guest, thirteen years in a row: and no problem. Just remember my advice and, to be safe, don’t leave the hotel. I can’t explain – and anyway, you wouldn’t understand. It’s just better if you stay inside,
Roman Dobrokhotov / @Dobrokhotov
Note
It would take at least as many words as the author uses to decipher the allusions in this short letter. Here it’s worth noting the following.
In 2008 the various Russian security services were allowed by law to use a “technical system to support investigative activities” (its acronym is SORM) which gave them access to communication networks without seeking prior permission. Such access is now a condition of registration for any new website, and providers must foot the bill themselves for installing the necessary equipment and software. For an account of SORM in action see this link.
Why Duma deputy Yelena Mizulina, singer Stanislav Mikhailov, rural schoolteacher Ilya Faber and Abbot (higumenos) Timothy have become famous or notorious can be learned from the Internet.
The author of the letter Roman Dobrokhotov is a Moscow-based blogger, and a journalist with the internet news-site slon.ru.
In 2012 he was described by Al Jazeera in the following terms: “Roman has been arrested 120 times. His actions – part performance art, part comedy and part political statement – are daring and entertaining but his cause is deadly serious.” Dobrokhotov’s targets, according to the TV broadcaster, are “Putin, the Orthodox church and ultra-nationalists”.
— John Crowfoot is a translator and writer
05 Aug 13 | Russia
(Photo: David von Blohn / Demotix)
Дорогой Эд!
Вчера я узнал о том, что тебе удалось все-таки получить в России временное убежище. Поздравляю тебя от лица всей прогрессивной мировой общественности. Теперь ты, наконец, в безопасности. Здесь, в России, никто и не подумает преследовать тебя за какие-то там разоблачения спецслужб, прослушивающих телефоны и читающих чужие письма без решения суда. Ибо у нас, слава богу, правовое государство – российские спецслужбы еще с 2008 года имеют полное законное право прослушивать телефонные разговоры и читать электронную почту, всем это известно и разоблачать нечего. Но пока ты только начинаешь знакомиться со всеми измерениями свободы нашего российского общества, позволь мне дать тебе пару скромных советов – как никак у нас тут в России есть своя специфика и лучше бы тебе знать о ней заранее.
Во-первых, Эд, смело занимайся любимым делом. Это в Америке разоблачать правительство было чревато неприятностями, в нашей же свободной стране ничего такого нет, даже наоборот – люди, разоблачающие американское правительство всячески поощряются и делают прекрасную карьеру. Чего я тебе и желаю. Но только призываю тебя не забывать, с каким именно правительством ты борешься. Ибо если ты в пылу эмоцией тут что-то перепутаешь, тебе придется вернуться в капсульную комнату (причем, скорее всего, даже не в аэропорту).
Во-вторых, старина, сразу бы тебе лучше усвоить, что Россия – это духовная страна. Возможно, в американской школе тебя учили, что российские богатства – это нефть и лес. Так вот это уже давно не так. Всю нефть украл Михаил Ходорковский еще в 2004 году, а намедни и вес лес украл Алексей Навальный, так что главные наши богатства нынче духовные – православие, самодержавие и народность. Православие – это очень либеральная религия, можно пить алкоголь, есть свинину, гонять в подпитии на родстере BMW с дипномерами, как игумен Тимофей – в общем, ни в чем себе не отказывай. Главное – не танцевать. Танцевать нельзя, это уголовка. Но ты же не танцор, что тебе, какая разница. Самодержавие же – это такая традиционная российская форма демократии, очень духовная, тебе понравится. Каждые несколько лет мы выбираем Владимира Путина. Владимир Путин поймал почти самого большого в мире сома. А самого-самого большого поймал Лукашенко. Это все что тебе следует знать о политике в странах СНГ. Если ты не хочешь вернуться в капсульный отель где-нибудь в Краснокаменске. Народность – это национальный дух. Ознакомиться с ним можно посредством песен Стаса Михайлова, но лично мой совет – не знакомься.
В-третьих, ты не подумай ничего такого, мне лично все равно, но все-таки лучше, если ты не гей. А если гей, то из отеля на всякий случай не выходи. А если еврей – то не становись сельским учителем. Дурацкий совет, вроде бы, да? Но я-то знаю, о чем говорю. Просто поверь.
Я слышал, адвокат Кучерена подарил тебе «Преступление и наказание» – это отличная книга, прочти ее пожалуйста ДО того как познакомишься с одной пожилой женщиной по имени Елена Мизулина. Не делай того, за что бы тебе потом пришлось раскаиваться! Какой бы благородной идеей ты ни руководствовался.
И напоследок, пару дельных советов: не нарушай правила дорожного движения пока не станешь депутатом, не трать деньги на покупку квартиры (просто познакомься с Рамзаном Кадыровым), учись играть в бадминтон, а если предложат выдвигаться в мэры Москвы – не соглашайся, это разводка! И запомни три простых правила: белого не надевать (по крайней мере не рядом с Болотной площадью), обтягивающего не носить (во всяком случае, слишком обтягивающего и рядом с Госдумой) и не танцевать (по крайней мере рядом с церквями).
Ты не подумай только, что я тебя пугаю. Наоборот же. В остальном-то у нас все можно. Хочешь ври, хочешь – воруй, хоть 13 лет подряд, никаких проблем. Просто помни мои советы. А лучше, что уж там, не выходи из этого отеля своего. Не могу объяснить. Ты не поймешь все равно. Просто – лучше не выходи.
Roman Dobrokhotov / @Dobrokhotov
01 Aug 13 | News and features, Pacific Standard, Russia
Russian lawmaker Vitaly Milonov has suggested that every gay athlete and spectator who comes to Russia for the 2014 Games will be arrested. (The International Olympic Committee says that won’t happen.) And while it is not totally clear what the “gay propaganda” law specifically means, Global Post has a useful summary:
Reports of arrest for kissing or hold hands, wearing or using rainbows, or pro-gay activism have helped to clarify the definition of “propaganda” as “any statement, oral or otherwise, that is pro-gay.”
It is now illegal to even admit homosexuality in public. It is also illegal to equate the value of homosexual relationships with that of heterosexual relationships, and punishment does not apply solely to Russians.
Foreigners can be arrested and detained for up to 15 days, fined and deported.
So, basically, anything remotely gay, and you’re in prison. With that in mind, I suggest, to Milonov and the rest of Russia, that every sport be banned from the 2014 Winter Games.
Alpine skiing? The competitors wear rainbow-colored spandex, which is often associated with “gay” in popular culture.
Biathlon? Men. Holding guns. Discharging them into the air. Textbook phallic symbolism.
Bobsled? Four men in spandex, stuffed inside a penis-shaped capsule. You could also argue that women doing the same—being inside of the penis capsule, which is an anti-traditional-sex position—is just as evocative of disruption.
Cross-country skiing? See alpine skiing.
Curling? Women eschew traditional feminine attire for pants and polo shirts. Men crash large stones into large stones strategically placed by other men.
Figure skating? “I can say that the best figure-skating in the world is the Soviet school of figure skating,” said Milonov. I have no response.
Freestyle skiing? Women with sticks strapped to their feet stomp over moguls, which evoke breasts, and thus suggests a rejection of classical femininity.
Ice hockey? Wood-en sticks are used to slap a hard and cold object past a desexualized being covered in padding and shielded by a mask.
Luge? Men in spandex, laying backwards, in direct contrast with the traditional male posture of dominance. Women, erect and sliding through a giant tube, subverting the basic male-to-female sex act.
Nordic combined? One gay sport plus another gay sport equals a really gay sport.
Short track speed skating? Often results in members of the same sex piled on top of each other while wearing extremely tight clothing, and is therefore not too dissimilar from a public orgy.
Skeleton? The name itself is a rejection of the appearance and the living human characteristics which are the basis of traditional patriarchal society. That, therefore, is an inherently gay attitude.
Ski jumping? Both male and female posit themselves as human phallic symbols, hurtling through the air. That evocation of equality is gay.
Snowboarding? The sport was founded as a counter-cultural activity, which is gay.
Speed skating? Hooded spandex outfits obscure any suggestion of gender across all competitions, thus creating a space for any/all close readings of sexuality, which would not be the case in a climate where “gay” is considered illegal.
In short, ban the 2014 Winter Olympics from Russia.
This article originally appeared at Pacific Standard. Pacific Standard is an arm of the nonprofit Miller-McCune Center for Research, Media and Public Policy.
23 Jul 13 | Russia
The Russian authorities came out with two new categories of website to be banned in May: on manufacturing explosive devices and bribery. If the first is the reaction of the authorities to the Boston bombings, the latter reflects major social problems of the society in Russia.
The Russian authorities came out with two new categories of website to be banned in May: on manufacturing explosive devices and bribery. If the first is the reaction of the authorities to the Boston bombings, the latter reflects major social problems of the society in Russia. Andrei Soldatov
Extremism
Sverdlovsk prosecutor demands restrictions on Islamist site
On 27 May the Sverdlovsk regional prosecutor reported that the Prigorodny district prosecutor had filed a claim against the local branch of the ISP Rostelecom demanding that a website containing Hizb ut-Tahrir materials be blocked.
Prosecutor blocks racial hatred websites
On 28 May it was reported that Ykhta city prosecutor had filed a lawsuit against the four largest ISPs in the region – GSP, Maxim, Rostelecom, and SeverTransTeleCom – demanding that they limit access to three sites containing material intended to incite violence or racial or religious hatred. The court granted the request.
Khabarovsk court bars anti-semitic film
At the end of May it became known that the Kirov district prosecutor of Khabarovsk had filed a claim in the central district court against the ISP TransTelecom-DV, requesting restrictions on access to the website www.u-tube.ru for posting the anti-semitic video The Eternal Jew. The video is included on the Federal List of Extremist Materials. The court granted the prosecutor’s request.
Samara prosecutor demands restrictions on Hizb ut-Tahrir
On 30 May the Samara regional prosecutor reported that the Samara city prosecutor had filed 26 writs against local ISPs with the Oktyabrsky district federal court, demanding two Hizb ut-Tahrir sites be blocked.
Action against Mein Kampf and other Nazi materials
On 21 May the Yoshkar-Ola city court upheld the demands of the republican prosecutor that access be limited to a website containing extremist material. The ISP Mobilnye TeleSystemy was ordered to block the website that published Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler and the anti-semitic tract Desionizatsiya by Valerie Emelyanov, as well as the video The Eternal Jew and leaflets of the second world war produced by the German army, the pro-Nazi Russian Liberation Army and Ukrainian Liberation Army and various other Nazi units. All of these materials are legally recognised as extremist.
Kurgan moves against terrorist propaganda
On 22 May the Kurgan regional prosecutor reported that the Belozersky district prosecutor had filed a court claim against the local branch of the ISP Rostelecom seeking to limit access to a website featuring publications on the Federal List of Extremist Materials. The material included calls to terrorist activity and documents designed to incite hatred. The court granted the request of the prosecutor. The decision has entered into force.
Ulyanovsk court orders ISPs to block racist sites
On 22 May it was reported that Barishsky district prosecutor in the Ulyanovsk region had started legal action against the regional branch of the ISP Rostelecom, demanding restrictions on access to several sites. The prosecutor identified the publicly accessible websitescircassia.forumieren.de, ansardin.wordpress.com, angusht.com, shamilonline.org and other sites that publish racist and ultranationalist material. The court granted the request in full.
Nazi memorabilia sales stopped in Kirov
On 8 May the Kirov regional prosecutor reported that a court had granted its request that the local branch of the ISP MTS block access to a website selling Nazi memorabilia. The website has been blocked.
Chechen Islamist site ‘was accessible in Pushkino’
On 17 May it became known that the Pushkino city prosecutor in the Moscow region had taken legal action against the ISP Vintem-Telecom for failing to restrict access to the Chechen Islamist website Kavkaz-Center. Access to the website has been restricted.
ISP complies with court demands on extremism
On 24 May the Moscow regional prosecutor announced that the Shakhovsky district prosecutor had taken legal action against the ISP Tekhnologii Domovykh Setei Plyus to block access to a website containing extremist materials. The ISP voluntarily complied with the request of the prosecutor and the case has been dismissed.
Murmansk prosecutor tells ISP to clamp down
On 14 May it became known that the Murmansk city prosecutor had filed a claim with the Oktyabrskii court of Murmansk demanding that the regional branch of the ISP Rostelecom restrict user access to websites containing extremist materials. The prosecutor had found that subscribers in the cities of Snezhnogorsk, Gadzhievo and Polarny had access to films, articles and leaflets inciting violence on ethnic and religious grounds and calling for participation in extremist organisations.
Education and public areas
Moscow prosecutor says filtering is faulty
On 31 May the Moscow regional prosecutor reported that several irregularities had been found in the course of an inspection of the Science Education Profession Centre of Continuing Education. In particular, its content-filtering system failed to restrict access to websites with information harmful to children. The prosecutor told the head of the centre to ensure compliance with the law.
Lipetsk internet café ‘allowed access to extremism’
On 20 May the Lipetsk regional prosecutor reported that visitors to the Energy internet café in the town of Chaplygin had access to extremist materials and to websites that advertised smoking mixtures and illegal substances, despite the presence of content-filtering. The district prosecutor started legal proceedings against the owner of the café under legislation aimed at protecting children from information harmful to their health and development. The case was referred to the magistrate’s court.
Altai republic acts against internet café
On 22 May it was reported that the Ust-Kan district prosecutor in the Altai republic had started legal action against the internet café owner E Kuldin after the discovery that computers in the cafe provided access to websites containing extremist material that violated legislation on protecting children from information harmful to their health and development. The prosecutor demanded that the owner eliminate the violation. The court granted the request.
University ‘must stop students visiting prohibited sites’
On 23 May it was reported that the Kemerovo regional prosecutor had found that visitors to the electronic reading room of the Kemerovo State University of Culture and Arts had access to banned websites, in particular sites containing materials intended to incite racial hatred. The prosecutor demanded that the university administration eliminate the violations of the law.
Rostov says college has to install filters
On 23 May the Rostov regional prosecutor reported that students of the Gukovsky branch of Academician P Stepanov Shakhtinskii Regional College of Fuel and Energy had access to extremist texts, video and audio materials via computers installed in its library and computer laboratory. The prosecutor went to court demanding that the college administration install content filters. The administration complied with the request.
Nizhny Novgorod demands protection of school children
On 13 May it became known that the Nizhny Novgorod city prosecutor had found that students at the city’s School No 3 and School No 14 could access websites with information on illegal drug use. The prosecutor demanded that access be stopped. On 23 May it was reported that the Knyagininskii district prosecutor in Nizhny Novgorod region had discovered that students at three schools – Knyaginino Secondary Schools No 1 and No 2 and Vozrozhdenie Secondary School – were able to access websites containing information harmful to children via school computers. Internet filters were not installed. The prosecutor issued four demands that the violations be eliminated.
Tuymazinsky prosecutor targets library and colleges
On 11 May it was announced that the Tuymazinsky interdistrict prosecutor had demanded the installation of internet filters at the Inter-settlement Central Library, a branch of the Ufa State Aviation Technical University, a medical college and a college of education. The prosecutor had found that students and readers had access to sites containing extremist propaganda, pornographic materials and information on smoking blends.
Salekhard prosecutor acts ‘to protect students’
On 24 May it was reported that the Salekhard city prosecutor had found that, despite the existence of content filters, students of five of the city’s schools had access to sites containing obscene language, pornography, violent materials and anti-semitic propaganda. The prosecutor demanded that the schools eliminate the legal violations.
School children must not see smoking blends ads
On 23 May the Kurgan regional prosecutor reported that students of the Kislyansk secondary school and three other schools in Yurgamyshsky district had access to the websites that advertised smoking blends. The district prosecutor demanded that the schools eliminate the detected violations.
Langepas schools ‘had access to extremist sites’
On 23 May the Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous district prosecutor reported that the Langepas prosecutor had found that, despite content filters installed in the computer labs of the city’s schools, students in the majority of them had unfettered access to websites containing extremist materials. The prosecutor demanded restrictions on student access to these websites.
Gambling and online casinos
Samara court bans betting sites
On 27 May the Kirovsky district court in Samara region granted five requests by the district prosecutor to restrict access to gambling websites. The court’s decision covers ISPs located in the Kirov district or providing telecommunications services in the region.
Belgorod prosecutors demand gaming block
On 30 May the Belgorod regional prosecutor reported that there was unfettered access to gambling websites in the agricultural vocational school of the Krasnogvardeisky district and in two secondary schools of Chernyansky district. The prosecutor started court actions to block these sites.
Online casino barred in Orenburg
On 30 May it became known that the Sorochinsk prosecutor in the Orenburg region had discovered that users of an internet club had access to a virtual casino website. The prosecutor started court action to close down the club and block the online casino. The Leninsky district court granted the request.
St Petersburg bans 219 betting sites
On 31 May the St Petersburg city prosecutor reported that the Oktyabrsky district court had granted the city prosecutor’s request to ban 219 gambling websites.
Youth wing of United Russia backs site blocking
On 31 May it was reported that that the Young Guard of United Russia, the youth wing of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, had developed a special system to block a large group of websites with inappropriate content. The launch of the search program that identifies websites on suicide, drugs, child pornography and terrorist activity was expected in late June. Once the targeted sites are found, the program will automatically notify the watchdog Roscomnadzor and the Ministry of Justice.
Samara clamps down on online casinos
On 6 May the Kirov district court of Samara granted four requests from the Kirov district prosecutor aimed at restricting access to gambling websites, ordering ISPs to take action. On 15 May the Samara district prosecutor reported that, on 29 April 2013, the same court had granted another five requests; and on 21 May in granted another 10.
Pyramid scheme sites barred in Omsk
On 22 May it was reported that, upon request from district prosecutors in Omsk, two ISPs had restricted access to the pyramid scheme websites MMM-2011 and MMM-2012. Earlier, the prosecutor of the Soviet district had filed a lawsuit against the ISP KOMMED-Info, demanding that it block the financial pyramid scheme sites. The ISP voluntarily complied with the request; the case was dismissed. The Leninsky district prosecutor in Omsk filed a similar claim against the ISP Eremenko. The court granted the request of the prosecutor.
Petrozavodsk acts on online casinos
On 16 May the prosecutor of the republic of Karelia reported that the Petrozavodsk city prosecutor had filed a court claim seeking to limit access to gambling websites in Petrozavodsk and Sortavala. The ISP concerned voluntarily complied with the prosecutor’s request.
Ivanovo bars 56 gambling sites
On 16 May the Ivanovo regional prosecutor reported that the Frunzensky district prosecutor of Ivanovo had submitted court claims against 11 ISPs. The prosecutors demanded restrictions on access to 56 gambling websites. The ISPs voluntarily complied with the requests. On 23 May the Ivanovo regional prosecutor reported that the Frunzensky district prosecutor of the city of Ivanovo had filed a lawsuit against the ISP V I Lenin Ivanovo State Energy University demanding restrictions on access to the MMM-2012 pyramid-scheme site. The ISP complied voluntarily with the request.
Ulyanovsk blocks pyramid scheme
On 16 May it was reported that Novomalyklinsky district prosecutor of Ulyanovsk region had been to court demanding restrictions on access to websites of the MMM pyramid scheme. The court granted the requests and access to the sites has been blocked.
Nizhnevartovsk restricts online betting
On 15 May the Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous district prosecutor reported that the Nizhnevartovsk city prosecutor had filed a claim with the city court demanding that the ISP Metroset limit access to a number of gambling websites. The ISP complied voluntarily with the request.
Krasnoyarsk denies access to gaming websites
On 14 May it was reported that the Krasnoyarsk regional prosecutor had issued several demands to ISPs that they restrict access to gambling websites and websites advertising the MMM-2012 pyramid scheme. The ISPs Right Side Plyus and Orion Telecom blocked access to eight sites. There was no court judgment in this case.
Online poker added to Rostelecom banned list
On 17 May it was reported that some of the largest poker websites had been added to the Register of Banned Sites. The ISP Rostelecom kept PokerStars, FullTiltPoker, PartyPoker and several other sites blocked for several hours.
Bomb making
Chechnya prosecutor demands ban on explosives tips
On 29 April the Chechnya republican prosecutor filed two court claims demanding that the ISP Vainakh Telecom block two websites containing instructions for making explosive devices (manufacturing nitroglycerin and cyclonite). The lawsuits are pending.
Bryansk prosecutor blocks bomb-making advice
On 20 May the Bryansk regional prosecutor reported that the Volodarsky district prosecutor had succeeded in blocking a number of websites that inform users about ways to make explosive devices. This prosecutor had filed a claim in 2011 with the Zheleznodorozhny district court of Ryazan against the ISP Svyaztransneft demanding termination of access to such websites, but the court dismissed the claim. The prosecutor appealed against the decision, but, once again, the claim was rejected. A further appeal to the supreme court led to the case being sent back to the Zheleznodorozhny district court for a new trial. In the course of this trial, the ISP agreed to block the sites, and the lawsuit was withdrawn.
Kirov acts against bomb instructions
On 20 May the Kirov city prosecutor filed a claim with the Pervomaisky district court requesting that access to the websites containing information about the manufacture of explosives and explosive devices be blocked.
Biysk prosecutor seeks to bar IED website
On 22 May it was reported that the Biysk city prosecutor had filed four claims with the city court against the ISPs requesting restrictions on access to a website that described making an improvised explosive device.
Stavropol prosecutors target ‘do-it-yourself’ weapons
On 8 May the Stavropol regional prosecutor reported that the prosecutors of Alexandrovsky, Kochubeevsky, Kursky, Neftekumsky, and Sovetsky districts, the city prosecutors of Essentuky and Kislovodsk and the prosecutors of Promyshlennyi and Oktyabrsky districts of Stavropol had identified several websites containing information about home manufacturing of weapons. The prosecutors filed over 20 court claims seeking to restrict access to the sites on the grounds that the weapons-making instructions constituted extremist materials.
Drugs
Ufa stops promotion of illegal drugs
On 15 May it was reported that the Kirov district prosecutor in Ufa had identified 10 publicly accessible websites with information about the manufacture and sale of illegal drugs. The prosecutor filed 30 court claims against the ISPs TTK-Center, BashTelekomServis and Cellular Bashkortostan demanding restrictions on access. The court granted the requests, and the blocking has now entered into force.
Yamal-Nenets government moves on drugs
On 24 May the governor of the Yamal-Nenets autonomous district, Dmitry Kobylkin, instructed the relevant departments of the regional government to work with ISPs to block websites involved in drug distribution.
Saratov court blocks illegal drugs sites
On 29 May it was reported that the Kirovsky district prosecutor in Saratov region had filed a lawsuit demanding that the ISP Fannet-Telecom limit access to several websites that had published information on the manufacture and sale of illegal drugs. The court granted the request.
Bribery
Samara prosecutor demands bribery shutdown
On 30 May the Samara regional prosecutor reported that the Novokuibyshevsk city prosecutor had submitted 12 court claims demanding access restrictions on websites describing methods of bribery
Ulyanovsk court targets corruption sites
On 24 May it became known that Ulyanovsk regional prosecutor’s request had been granted for a court order blocking sites describing methods of bribery. The sites in question include cripo.com, glavnoe, aloepole, krasjob, daslife, scandalim, bbcont, homearchive, tvoemnenie and posovesti.
Yamal court stops ‘how-to-bribe’ tips
On 16 May it was announced that the Salekhard city court granted the request of the Muravlenko city prosecutor to order Rostelecom to restrict access to several websites describing methods of bribery.
Kogalym prosecutors demand restrictions
On 7 May the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous district prosecutor reported that the Kogalym city prosecutor had filed a court claim demanding that the regional branch of Rostelecom and the ISP Intermir block access to several websites describing methods of bribery.
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‘Doghunters’ face ban in Sverdlovsk
On 30 May 2013, the Sverdlovsk regional prosecutor reported that the Sukhoi Log city court had granted the request of the city prosecutor to make the ISP Uralskiie Seti restrict access to the Vreditelyam.net website organised by “doghunters” (volunteer exterminators of dogs). The decision by the Sukhoi Log city court was forwarded to the Ural federal district office of Roscomnadzor in order to add the site to the Register of Banned Sites.
Togliatti prosecutor acts on coat of arms
On 14 May it was reported that the general prosecutor of the Russian Federation, assisted by the prosecutors of the Samara region, Moscow and St Petersburg, had reviewed illegal use of the national coat of arms and had discovered the website of a Togliatti woman entrepreneur who traded in stationery and stamps with the image of the Russian coat of arms. The Togliatti city prosecutor filed a claim with the Tsentralnyi district federal court of Togliatti demanding that the state coat of arms be removed from the site and that the entrepreneur stop the trading in products featuring the coat of arms. The ISP hosting the site was told to eliminate the violation of the law and has now restricted access to the site.
Dreamwidth.org portal is blacklisted
On 8 May it was reported that several ISPs had blocked access to the portal dreamwidth.org whose IP-address was included in the Register of Banned Sites. The inclusion was triggered by a post about a method of suicide on one of its blogs.
Yamal court orders clampdown on fake diplomas
On 24 May the Yamal-Nenets autonomous district prosecutor reported that the Salekhard city court had granted the request of the Muravlenko city prosecutor to make the ISP Rostelecom resatrict access to websites selling fake diplomas and graduation certificates. The city prosecutor is overseeing compliance with the verdict.
Roscomnadzor bars social network by mistake
On 24 May it was announced that Roscomnadzor had added the VKontakte social network to the Register of Banned Sites. In some regions, particularly in Chita and St Petersburg, ISPs restricted access to the social network. According to media reports, the blacklisting took place because photos published by Vkontakte users had been identified by Roscomnadzor as child pornography. Roskomnadzor spokesman Vladimir Pikov said that VKontakte had been added to the list in error and would be removed from it.
