Roskomnadzor, Russia’s telecom and media watchdog, has blacklisted Bits.media, a major news source in the country’s crypto industry. The online platform claimed that the site is no longer available via the majority of Russian internet providers.
However, the site announced that it wants to challenge the Russian government agency’s decision.
A result of court’s decision
The block was a result of a judgment by Saratov city’s Volzhsky District Court in a case filed on March 31 by the local prosecutor’s office. Bits.media noted in a post that the court accepted the prosecutor’s request on April 24 after reviewing the matter even without the media outlet’s founders present.
In the court’s decision, five sites were targeted because they included material inciting criminal activity in the area of “legalizing (laundering) criminal profits.”
The block was discovered by several Bits.media’s viewers this week. Upon investigating, Bits.media’s crew discovered that Roskomnadzor, a Russian government agency responsible for censoring the country’s media, is responsible for its closure.
Media watchdog blocks several sites more
It was also found out that Russia’s media watchdog has posted a list of websites that it claims spread illegal information.
Moreover, it was still unknown whether it was just Bits. media that was affected by the restriction.
In some news reports, Ivan Tikhonov, Bits. media founder, reportedly said that since the online media platform is an interested party in the case, they should be, first and foremost, notified of the proceedings.
“We were not given any opportunity to remove the materials about which the Saratov prosecutor’s office had questions,” he said, adding that they “strongly disagree” with the court’s decision.
Challenging court’s decision
Bits.media intends to challenge the court’s ruling since it previously prevailed in a case quite similar to this one.
In January 2015, Russian internet censors shut down seven sites as decided by the Nevyansk City Court of the Sverdov region. The court’s decision claims that it is necessary to “protect an unlimited circle of individuals”. However, the decision was eventually reversed.
And in March 2020, Roskomnadzor blocked five websites it claimed provided resources and services linked to cryptocurrency.