Ban on the Russian Language Wikipedia was cancelled on August 25, 2015. The ban lasted barely for a few hours but caused a storm among the Russian users. Notifications were sent by the Russian communications watchdog to the internet providers on August 24, 2015.
The notice had instructed them to block access to Wikipedia in Russia. A provincial court had ruled that its entry on hashish contained banned information. During the late hours of Monday, internet users in Russia had reported that they were not able to access Wikipedia’s Russian version. Wikipedia was removed by the agency from the list and banned the websites on August 25, 2015.
The agency added that the information in the article was edited and has complied with the decision of the court. It was noted by the internet users that Wikipedia did not edit the entry but just renamed the title. The new laws passed in Russia has classified banned as any information about drug use, suicide or anything that can be interpreted as inciting hatred.
The authorities have been allowed to clamp down the dissent and block access to any website. The Federal Communications Agency of Russia has come under fire before the attempts to stifle dissent online.
Photo Credits: nextbigwhat
