Russian authorities blocked more than 885,000 websites in first half of 2023

In the first six months of 2023, Russia's federal censorship agency, Roskomnadzor, ordered the blocking of more than 885,000 websites that allegedly contained information banned under Russian law.

That’s 85 percent higher than the number of sites blocked in the same period in 2022, a representative of the agency told the Russian newspaper Kommersant.

In June 2023, Roskomnadzor reported that since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, it had blocked 206,000 websites that contained “disinformation” about the Russian military, material that “discredits” the Russian army, and calls for unauthorized protests.