Russian authorities have blocked jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s mirror website using the tools that help telecom providers “isolate” Russia’s section of the internet, The Moscow Times reports, citing privacy NGO Roskomsvoboda.
Navalny rolled out the website navalny.app after authorities blocked his main website navalny.com alongside nearly 50 sites linked to him Monday because of “banned extremist activity.” A Moscow court declared Navalny’s political and activist network “extremist” last month, banning anyone affiliated with it from running for office. According to Roskomsvoboda, Russia’s internet regulator Roskomnadzor began blocking navalny.app using so-called anti-threat equipment that providers were required to purchase and install under Russia’s ‘sovereign internet‘ laws.
Navalny has called on his supporters to bypass the latest restrictions by downloading his ‘Smart Vote‘ application. Designed by the Navalny team to consolidate opposition votes in single-mandate constituencies against government-approved nominees, the Smart Vote app also allows users to read content from Navalny’s blocked website.
Independent minded online publication Meduza notes that the only Navalny-linked web resource the Russian authorities have not blocked is, precisely, that Smart Vote site. In all likelihood, however, Roskomnadzor could block access to it for a large number of users.
Russia blocks Navalny’s mirror site using Internet isolation tools – but not yet his ‘Smart Vote’ siteRead More
