Yandex caves to Russia’s federal censor in dispute over Internet piracy

Roskomnadzor, the Russian telecom and Internet regulator, threatened to block Yandex’s video service, following an August 24 verdict by the Moscow City Court ordering the website to remove all hyperlinks to pirated content from its search results. Earlier this month, several television stations filed lawsuits against Yandex, where links to pirated copies of their content often appear in the first search results.

Hours before Roskomnadzor said it would act, Yandex complied with the orders from the Moscow City Court, removing from its video search results hyperlinks to pirated content identified by Gazprom Media. Spokespeople for Yandex told Meduza that the company still contests the court ruling and plans to file an appeal. In a press release, Yandex also warned that some of the hyperlinks removed from its search results may have redirected users to legal content, possibly reducing Gazprom Media’s online traffic.