Censored! Russia blocks website of Olympic bobsledder who posed half-naked with teammates and mocked Putin's anti-gay laws

Justin Kripps has been barred from his own site while in Sochi

Website was used to update fans on team's progress at the Winter Games

Error message claims web content was spreading barred information

The website of Olympic bobsledder Justin Kripps has been censored by Russia's strict Internet laws while the Canadian is in Sochi for the Winter Games.



The heavy-handed censorship has led to speculation as to whether a recent picture of Kripps and his teammates posing bare-chested may have fallen foul of President Putin's anti-gay laws.

Kripps had been using the website to keep fans updated on the team's preparations for the Olympics, but when he arrived in Sochi he found access to it had been barred.

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Fans: Justin Kripps, left, and his teammates were voted 'Beards of the Week' by a gay blogger when the Olympic hopeful posted this picture online

When the 27-year-old pilot of Canada's three-man bobsled team tried to log into his website from his cellphone an error message, written in Russian, appeared.



Kripps used an online translator to decipher the message and discovered his website had been 'restricted' because it contained information prohibited by Russian law.

It is believed the ban could be related to a tweet that Kripps sent on February 6, that linked to a video mocking Russia's homophobic laws.

He tweeted: 'This is pretty funny' and linked to a short film made by the Canadian Institute of Diversity as part of its Keep The Games Gay campaign.



Kripps had also tweeted a team picture in January, which showed him and his bearded teammates wearing only their underpants.



Error: This Russian message, blocking Kripps' website says access has been restricted because it is either breaking a law or spreading information prohibited in Russia

Going for gold: Kripps with the four-man Canadian team

The bobsledder's tweets automatically link to the news feed on his website.

According to the Wire, the team picture quickly went viral on social media networks last month, and led the team to be declared 'beards of the week' by gay blogger Andrew Sullivan.

It is not known if Russian censors cut access to the website because of its popularity within the gay community, but the country has strict laws governing material it deems to be 'homosexual propaganda'.

Kripps told CBC the ban was 'pretty crazy'. An online translation that he did of the error message showed three possible reasons for the ban.



Denied: Kripps joked on Twitter about his website being censored

The message said it could be restricted because of a court decision; a source which spreads information prohibited in the Russian federation and law; or that the website uses information from right holders that it shouldn't.

Kripps took the censorship in good spirits, tweeting: 'Looks like my website is censored in Russia, haha classic #SochiProblems I wonder if there's a camera in my room.'

Canadian reporters in Sochi for the Games also reported that they were unable to access the site, and a clear reason for it being blocked has not yet been given.



