Russia's media watchdog has blocked access to more than 600 websites deemed by prosecutors to be "extremist" since a law allowing websites to be shut down without a court order came into force earlier this year, the agency's head said.
The watchdog Roskomnadzor's director, Alexander Zharov, praised the promptness of his agency's work, saying that websites are blocked as soon as a prosecutor orders that, TASS reported Wednesday.
Since the start of February, when the law allowing "extremist" websites to be blocked without a court order came into force, Roskomnadzor has received about 100 such requests from prosecutors and has blocked more than 600 websites and their mirror sites, Zharov was quoted as saying.
"We already have a lot of experience in that regard," he said, TASS reported.
The websites that Russia has blocked as "extremist" include a number of reputable news sites that have criticized the Kremlin's policies.
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