Russia Blocks Porn Site Brazzers for 'Damaging Human Psyche'
The Russian government has blocked adult video site Brazzers over claims that its pornographic content has a “deeply negative influence on the human psyche.”
Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor blacklisted the site Tuesday, blocking access from Russia-based servers.
The move follows a decision by Bolsheglushitsky District Court in Russia’s Samara region in October 2016.
The court ruled that Brazzers’ pornographic content had a “purely negative impact on the human psyche,” and “violated citizens’ rights,” Russia’s TJ Journal reported. The case was brought to the court by local prosecutors working "in the interests of the Russian Federation."
Brazzers is yet to comment on the decision.
Russia makes up a small but growing market for the Canada-based company, which was founded in 2005.
Although Russian users count for less than 4 percent of all traffic on the site, the number of Russian language search terms driving visitors to the company’s homepage have more than doubled over the past 12 months.
The move follows Roskomnadzor’s decision to blacklist adult video site Pornhub in September 2016. A court in Krasnodar petitioned for the site to be blocked after ruling that the website violated child protection laws.
Pornhub reacted to the ban by offering Russians 14 days of free access to their premium services. The site also offered Roskomnadzor officials upgraded membership in return for lifting the ban, a deal which they ultimately refused.
