Russia’s media censor Roskomnadzor unblocks Tor Project’s website – Bitcoin News

The Russian telecoms and mass media watchdog Roskomnadzor has restored access to the website of the Tor project, implementing a court order with delay. The site was blacklisted last year, but the measure was successfully challenged by lawyers.

Roskomnadzor removes Tor Project’s website from the blacklist of banned internet sites

Russia’s Federal Service for Oversight of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, also known as Roskomnadzor or RKN, has removed the Tor project’s main site from its register of Internet sources restricted for the dissemination of prohibited information. The delisting follows a court decision and comes with a two-month delay.

The government agency took steps to restrict access to the site for Russian internet users last December. The measure was imposed to implement a ruling by the Saratov District Court from late 2017.

Legal experts from Roskomsvoboda, a non-governmental organization dedicated to protecting digital rights in Russia, challenged the decision of the regional court, citing procedural violations, including failure to summon the owner. In May, a Court of Appeal overturned the ruling.

“Roskomnadzor, of course, indecently delayed the cancellation of the site, because the decision to block it was canceled on May 19, and since then there has been no reason to find the Tor project in the registry,” commented Ekaterina Abashina, Roskomsvoboda’s lawyer. representing the affected platform.

Quoted in an announcement on the NGO’s website, Abashina noted that Roskomsvoboda had to explicitly notify the regulator of the unjustified delay, even though Roskomnadzor itself was involved in the whole process. The response came a month later, with the agency simply saying “we will unblock this site soon,” without specifying when.

Roskomsvoboda’s expert also reminded that the Court of Appeal has sent the case back to the Court of First Instance for a new trial, where the first hearing was expected to take place this week. Crypto news agency Forklog reported on this development that in mid-July the Tor Project team introduced an updated version of the Tor browser, designed to bypass such restrictions.

Over the past few years, websites that publish information or offer services related to cryptocurrencies as well as VPN providers have also been targeted by the Russian telecoms watchdog, prosecutors and courts. However, the operators of such platforms have often managed to challenge the measures taken against them due to procedural violations or a lack of clear rules.

What is your view on the matter of the blocking of the Tor Project website in Russia? Share your thoughts on the topic in the comments section below.

Lubomir Tassev

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Eastern Europe who likes Hitchens’ quote: “To be a writer is what I am, rather than what I do.” Besides crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.