The Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor has removed Amazon's storage service website from its list of banned websites, the agency wrote on Twitter on Thursday.
The decision to unblock the website was taken after Amazon restricted access to a webpage which contains downloads for playing poker.
On June 22, the media watchdog blocked the 888poker webpage on the Amazon Simple Storage website, also known as Amazon S3, on the request of the Russian Customs Service. The agency said that the webpage violated Russian law “on the regulation of the organization of gambling.”
The entire website was blocked, not only the offending webpage, the Meduza news website reported.
Before blocking the service, the state watchdog asked the company to restrict access to the page, but they refused to do so, the RBC news website reported.
In August last year, Roskomnadzor moved to block Wikipedia because of webpages containing information on drugs but later cancelled the move.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
