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Pornhub.com and Youporn.com, two of the world’s largest adult websites in the world are to be blocked by the Russian Federal Service for Supervision... Russia Blocks More Porn Sites, including Youporn and Pornhub

Pornhub.com and Youporn.com, two of the world’s largest adult websites in the world are to be blocked by the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media, (Roskomnadzor).The NSA Knows What You’re Watching Online - Especially Porn! 

All Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Russia have until Tuesday to comply with the new ruling.

The decision was made following two separate court rulings, which said the websites “spread pornography”.

While sexually explicit content itself is not illegal in Russia, laws do ban the “the illegal production, dissemination and advertisement of pornographic materials and objects”.

The 2 adult sites now display a message explaining they have been blocked “by decision of public authorities”.

Not that is anything new for Russia or its authorities. The Russian language version of Pornhub.com was banned in 2015 alongside 10 other pornography websites. The reason given at that time was that such websites were failing to keep children safe from “information harmful to their health”.

“If we gave give you a guys Pornhub Premium account, will you un ban Pornhub in Russia?” the official Pornhub Twitter account asked the Roskomnadzor. The tweet was retweeted more than 2,000 times in just a few hours.

It’s not just adult websites that Russia have tried to ban or block over the years. Websites such as Wikipedia,  Facebook, Reddit have all found themselves on the Roskomnadzor list of blocked sites.  These websites though were unblocked after a public outcry, albeit with some restrictions and edits having taken place. Other websites critical of the Russian government have been blocked, and some have not all have been unblocked.

Following the 2015 ban, one woman asked Roskomnadzor on Twitter whether it could recommend an alternative. “You can meet someone in real life,” came the reply.

Nadya Tolokonnikova, the lead singer of Russian punk band Pussy Riot, said not un-ironically, that the ban was “a blow below the belt”.