Pornhub.com and Youporn.com, two of the largest porn websites in the world, are now blocked for Russian internet users. The block order comes from the Roskomnadzor, or Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media. All of Russia’s internet service providers (ISPs) have 24 hours to comply. Last year, the Roskomnadzor banned the Russian language Pornhub website, and has now come again to finish the job. When an angry Russian citizen named Lyolya tweeted at the Roskomnadzor asking for the government approved alternatives to Youporn and Pornhub, a response was actually given:

“Dear Lyolya, as an alternative you can meet someone in real life.”

Roskomnadzor bans Pornhub and YouPorn, two of the top porn sites in the world

Sites such as Reddit, Wikipedia, and Facebook have also been on the short end of the Roskomnadzor’s website ban list. However, after a lot of public outcry from users (as well as some political and media pressure), government approved edits restored access to these particular websites. Last year, Pornhub had stated: “We can confirm that Roskomnadzor has blacklisted Pornhub in Russia and we are currently investigating and considering available means to reinstate our website in Russia.”

Those efforts clearly never came to fruition and the war against porn continues in Russia.This latest volley in Russia’ anti-pornography battle is just a continuation of the same trend. Last year, when Pornhub’s Russian site was on a list of 10 porn sites banned for failing to satisfy Russian laws on keeping “harmful information” out of the hands of children. A prime example of Russia’s anti-pornography movement is a church that blocks all harmful pornographic content, written or text, on its public WiFi network. Since it’s Russia, harmful pornographic content of course includes even vague homosexual references. The use of anti-pornography laws and sentiment to continue the oppression of freedom of expression and LBGTQ rights in person and online is practiced in Russia and many Islamic countries as well.

In countries such as the UAE, where porn is very illegal and the constituency supports that, the laws are clear and sites like Pornhub aren’t blindsided by the blocks. However, Russia’ legal climate for porn websites is muddled to say the least. Only the production and selling of porn is expressly illegal in Russia, and it is under these old laws that Pornhub and other porn sites have been blocked for years. Watching porn is not illegal in Russia; however, if you want to do it on Pornhub or Youporn or any of the other blocked porn sites, you’ll have to use a VPN.