Russia blocks LinkedIn for hosting data in other countries

The Russian government has ordered providers to block access to LinkedIn, officially for hosting user data in a country other than Russia. Facebook and Twitter also host data outside of Russia, but are still online.

The approximately five million Russian members of LinkedIn can no longer go straight to the site, according to the report from the Russian regulator Roskomnadzo. The network site has reacted with disappointment to the blockade, which indeed appears to be in effect in the country, Techcrunch writes. It is unknown whether LinkedIn wants to comply with the requirement to host all data of Russian users in Russia.

Russia has blocked well-known sites more often in recent years for various reasons. Wikipedia and Reddit, among others, had to deal with a blockage. The regulator threatened even more often with a blockade, such as last year when the government wanted to obtain data from bloggers.

It is unclear how long the blockade will last. According to Techcrunch, Russian users can continue to use the business network site via a VPN. Microsoft is in the process of acquiring LinkedIn. It is unknown whether the takeover and the blockade are related. The Russian government recently launched an investigation into Microsoft for abusing its market power with Windows Defender, following a complaint from Russian security firm Kaspersky.