Statement by OVD-Info regarding media blockings

Then from the publications “Echo of Moscow”, “InoSMI”, “Mediazona”, The New Times, “Dozhd”, “Free Press”, “Krym.Realii”, “Novaya Gazeta”, “Journalist”, “Lenizdat” under the threat of blocking demanded the removal of publications about military operations: the department announced that they contained “untrue information about the shelling of Ukrainian cities and the death of Ukrainian civilians as a result of the actions of the Russian army.” In addition, publications were actually prohibited from using the words “attack,” “invasion,” and “war” in connection with what was happening on the territory of Ukraine. The Russian state instructs all media to call the war a “special military operation” and nothing else.

Media blocking began on February 27. The first to block was Current Time, then Krym.Realii, The New Times, DOXA, Taiga.Info, as well as a number of Ukrainian publications. Material about the war from the Tomsk TV channel TV2 was also removed.

The loudest chord in this series of rapid and illegal actions was, perhaps, the blocking of the Dozhd TV channel and the Ekho Moskvy radio station. The official reason is that these media outlets allegedly published not only false information about the actions of Russian military personnel, but also information with calls for extremist activity and violence.

Today it became known that the police are confiscating the circulation of publications of the Ural holding “VK-Media” - the newspapers “Evening Krasnoturinsk”, “Evening Karpinsk”, “About Severouralsk” and “Globus” (Serov), which came out with the phrase “This madness must be stopped " on the first page.

Everything that is happening cannot be called anything other than manifestations of the strictest censorship, directly prohibited by the Constitution of Russia. War is, among other things, a situation in which people need information from different sources more than ever. For many Russian-speaking readers of all these publications, Ukraine is their native place: some have family, friends, home, work, memories there. All these people need to be informed about what is happening.

We have known for a long time how the Russian authorities treat various types of information: there have been a lot of examples of blocking (including without a court order) of various sites and persecution of people for disseminating information that the state considers inconvenient for itself. What can I say - our site was blocked at the end of December last year without any serious reason.

At the same time, it is well known how the authorities themselves present information, how much is suppressed and distorted even in peacetime, and even more so in war. Many people do not trust official sources of information and turn to independent ones. Now they are practically deprived of such an opportunity. Not everyone has the means to bypass blocking.

Our work depends on the work of the media. We believe that information protects, and only with the help of colleagues from other publications - including those that have been blocked these days - can we tell the public about political persecution.

It is today, in conditions of war, that blockages and prohibitions take on a particularly ominous character. The state bombs the territory of Ukraine, people die, serious damage is done to many cities, and the residents of Russia are deliberately cut off from information. Let us also remember that loud statements against the war are persecuted, not to mention the unprecedented number of mass arrests of people taking to the streets to speak out against the war with Ukraine.

We express our full support to our colleagues who have been blocked. We urge social networks, to which Roskomnadzor has appealed to close the pages of the mentioned publications, not to become censors, and readers to use ways to bypass blocking and other opportunities for obtaining blocked information, as well as to tell friends and acquaintances about what is happening, in short, not to remain silent. People need information.

No war! No censorship!