Russia’s federal internet regulator, Roskomnadzor, has ordered Russian outlets to delete reports linking a widespread disruption at major Russian banks on April 3 to the agency’s website-blocking activity.
The Russian business outlet Forbes and the Telegram channel Mash have already removed their coverage. The Telegram channel Dvach reported the takedown demand and posted a screenshot of the Roskomnadzor notice, which said the material was aimed at “destabilizing the political situation in Russia.”
Numerous news-repost channels also deleted their coverage, the Telegram news channel Ostorozhno Novosti reported, with posts disappearing from Backdoor, Novosti Moskvy (Moscow News), Pryamoy Efir (Live Broadcast), Moskvach, Moskva Segodnya (Moscow Today), and others.
On March 20, the Telegram news channel Ostorozhno Novosti received a demand from Roskomnadzor to delete a post summarizing a Forbes article reporting that the agency had run into difficulties blocking websites. The Ostorozhno Novosti post was removed; the Forbes article it was based on remains accessible.
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