American CIA and FBI websites blocked in Russia
2023.01.27 15:10
American CIA and FBI websites blocked in Russia
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – According to the TASS news agency, Russia’s communications regulator Roskomnadzor said on Friday that it had blocked the websites of the CIA and FBI because it thought the two U.S. government agencies were spreading false information.
“Roskomnadzor has limited admittance to various assets having a place with state designs of threatening nations for dispersing material pointed toward undermining what is happening in Russia,” Roskomnadzor said in a proclamation conveyed by Russian news organizations.
Roskomnadzor, as reported by TASS, stated that the two American websites had published false content and information that had discredited the Russian military.
In an email, a State Department spokesperson stated:
“This action by Russia’s authorities is unsurprising and accompanies existing bans on many other websites.”
A request for clarification was sent to representatives of Roskomnadzor, the CIA, and the FBI.
Discrediting Russia’s armed forces is now a felony that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and knowingly disseminating “false information” about the military carries a maximum sentence of fifteen years.
Roskomnadzor has blocked a number of independent media outlets, some foreign news websites, and social media platforms, including Facebook (NASDAQ:), since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February of last year. Twitter and Instagram
Since Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24, a monitoring company called Top10VPN has been keeping track of blocked websites in Russia. They say Roskomnadzor has blocked over 4,300 domains, with more than 85% of them relating to Ukrainian, Russian, and international news sites.
According to Simon Migliano, Head of Research at Top10VPN.com:
“Russian censors have previously blocked a handful of Ukraine’s government websites, but with the restrictions on the FBI and CIA websites, this is the first time they have prevented Russians from accessing other international government websites.”
“On top of the major social media platforms, only a few major U.S. websites, like NPR and Google (NASDAQ:), have been restricted. News and AOL, which adds to the intrigue surrounding the timing of these most recent restrictions.”
