Both sites were added to the blacklist of Russian media by internet watchdog Roskomnadzor on Tuesday.
The agency did not specify why the courts ordered the sites to be blocked, but reiterated its advice from the last time it banned Pornhub in 2015. Answering a person on Twitter who asked whether the watchdog offered any alternative to the adult site, it said the alternative is to go out and meet somebody in real life.
Comment: What a response!
Pornhub asked the internet watchdog whether the use of premium accounts would be enough to have the ban removed. The agency refused, saying that "the demography is not a commodity."
The Russian mechanism for fighting illegal content online allows low-level courts to ban even very popular sites, which occasionally leads to public outcry.
Temporary bans in the past affected sites and services such as Wikipedia, Apple's iCloud, YouTube, and even Roskomnadzor's own website.
Meanwhile, people in Russia have complained that their favorite destination for adult content was no longer available. RT collected a sample of the complaints.
They say they blocked Pornhub in Russia. Here you go:
( . ) ( . )
No need to thank me.
I remember the last time they blocked Pornhub. The horror of loneliness!
Comment: Pretty sad, no?
They banned Pornhub in Russia - but I live in Belarus, thank God!
Comment: Thank who?!
Did they block Pornhub during the election week? They really have no fear!
Comment: They're clearly confident that most are supportive of banning porn.
Pornhub banned - no use for browser anymore.
Comment: Exactly, now you can go do something productive.
Roskomnadzor may ban Pornhub, but it can't ban my imagination!
Think of it as counter sanctioning the US, EU, and NATO. Its the NGOs and political influence to "westernize" the thinking of Russian citizens that is the threat not the porn. For example Porn Hub (which is owned by MindGeek which also owns YouPorn) has a "NETWORK" which has philanthropist money including fund raisers etc. that benefit the drug and pharmaceutical cartels for their "breast" cancer awareness which leads to the infamous pink ribbon that dupes people into giving money for "the cure". And the nay sayers to porn are supporting religious control of sex since religious leaders are the biggest winners in banning and controlling sexual expression. Instead laws need to define clearly what is considered legal porn and what isn't. Russia from my research has that ill defined which leads to the state making rash decisions on banning content etc. Walking around all day playing Pokémon GO and watching porn endlessly into the night is a personal choice it should not be a choice decided by the state.