Kremlin demands that providers block Russian Wikipedia – update

According to Wikimedia, the Russian communications authority is demanding that providers in the country block Wikipedia. The blockage would follow a request to Wikimedia to remove a page about a type of hash. Wikimedia did not comply with this request.

The authority, the Roskomnadzor, has ordered the blocking of the Russian Wikipedia, but it is not clear whether all providers have already set it up. The measure is due to the presence of a Wikipedia page on charas, a particular hash form. The Roskomnadzor wants this page removed because it describes how to make the substance, but Wikimedia refuses to go into this. Because Wikipedia can be accessed via an encrypted https connection, providers cannot block a single page.

“Censorship of Wikipedia goes against Wikimedia’s vision of a world where everyone has free access to all knowledge,” the Wikimedia Foundation said in a statement to TechCrunch. However, the editors of Wikipedia have adapted the article to make it comply with the ‘standard for neutrality and reliability’. Among other things, links to correct sources have been provided. In addition, a notification banner alerts users that the site may be blocked.

This is not the first time Wikipedia has been threatened with being blocked in Russia. In 2013, this also happened because of an article about cannabis.

Update, 12.40: Roskomnadzor has blacklisted Wikipedia after changes made by Wikipedia editors, Russia’s Tass news agency reported. Some providers had already started blocking. Among other things, it has been removed how to make charas and it has been added that it is an illegal narcotic.