Russia Bans Two Major Porn Sites—Tells Citizens To “Meet Someone In Real Life"

Last month, Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor pissed off thousands of local porn lovers when it blocked the entire country from accessing two of the world’s biggest adult websites, Pornhub and YouPorn.

Rooted in two separate court rulings, the state-owned agency blacklisted the porn sites for violating Russian laws on counts of “spreading pornography” and the “illegal production, dissemination, and advertising of pornographic materials and objects.” As of Tuesday, Pornhub and YouPorn now redirect Russian visitors to a page that says they’ve been blocked ‘by decision of public authorities.'

Following that, with access to the troves of free porn suspended, Russian social networks exploded with sarcasm.

'Pornhub banned – no use for browser anymore.' one user wrote.

Another user tweeted: 'They banned Pornhub in Russia – but I live in Belarus, thank God!'

'Did they block Pornhub during the election week? They really have no fear!'

'Dmitry Medvedev ordered the creation of a domestic substitute for foreign Pornhub.'

Following a massive outcry on social media after last week’s blocks, Roskomnadzor showed identical disregard for the public’s discontentment, tweeting vexed users that their advice from last year – to meet people in real life, that is – “still stands.”

Meanwhile, Pornhub didn’t stay idle.

It promptly set up a mirror where Russian users could still access the website and actively engaged in the public dispute, deluging Roskomnadzor with a barrage of witty remarks on Twitter.

But Pornhub didn’t stop there. Instead, it led the battle on all fronts.

While its community coordinator Pornhub_Katie took it to Reddit to spread the word and inform international users about the ban, the website also re-activated its VKontakte page (also known as the Russian Facebook) to better mobilize its supporters in Russia.

In addition to poking fun at Roskomnadzor and President Putin, Pornhub also took the opportunity to ask VKontakte users whether the adult site should be unblocked, to which over 65 percent of all voters have so far responded with ‘obviously.’ In comparison, less than 20 percent believe the service should remain unavailable.

This isn’t the first time Russia has banned popular websites, according to RT.

Along with the 11 porn sites blocked last year, temporary bans have also affected Wikipedia, Apple's iCloud, and YouTube.