Russia bans all of Wikipedia over an article about hashish
Russia’s government apparently thinks that by censoring the Internet, its citizens will forget that drugs exist. After briefly banning Reddit recently over a single thread about psychedelic mushrooms, Russia’s Roscomnadzor agency (which is charged with policing the Internet for objectionable material) has officially nixed the entirety of Wikipedia.
Specifically, the agency is up in arms over “charas” — a handmade form of hash from India that even I had never heard of — as the Wiki page reportedly constitutes “instructions” on how to make the stuff. And since Wikipedia, like Reddit, employs HTTPS, there’s no way for the Russian government to censor that single page. As such, the entire Wikipedia site is completely offline for all of Russia and will remain so until the Roscomnadzor gets its way. Wikipedia.ru has vowed to appeal the decision, according to Sputnik News.
[Image credit: The Washington Post/Getty Images]
Filed under:
Internet
Via:
Popular Mechanics
Source:
Sputnik News
Tags: cannabis, censorship, HTTP Secure, India, Reddit, Roscomnadzor, russia, Wikipedia
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