Experts warn about the threat of blocking Minecraft

The popular game Minecraft may be blocked in Russia, similar to Roblox, Paragraph reports . The publication's journalists talked with experts and found out that there are grounds for the development of such a scenario.

According to leading analyst at Mobile Research Group Eldar Murtazin, the threat is quite real for large digital services that do not have a legal presence in Russia and do not comply with the requirements of local legislation.

The expert noted that in the absence of official representation, it is more difficult for the state to control the activities of the owner company and present claims to it in the prescribed manner. “The principle of blocking is very simple: the game or service is not present in Russia - there is no Russian legal entity, and it is a fairly popular game or service. Accordingly, there are a large number of people there. This is the basis for blocking, because any large service can be used illegally,” Murtazin explained the logic of the Russian authorities.

He also clarified that even if the decision to block Minecraft is made, it will not take effect immediately. The fact is that restrictions are introduced gradually and usually follow unsuccessful attempts to establish interaction with the copyright holder.

“If you follow the logic of blocking, then it should be blocked. But blocking is not activated instantly for everyone. They turn on one after another - gradually. Based on this, it will probably come to their attention,” the analyst added.

The day before it became known that one of the most multiplayer computer games in history, Roblox, was blocked in Russia. Thousands of users from dozens of Russian cities reported problems with access. Later, Roskomnadzor confirmed the blocking of the game and explained its decision by “massive and repeated distribution of materials containing propaganda and justification of extremism and terrorism, calls for violence and LGBT propaganda.”