Russian President Vladimir Putin has authorized the banning of porn in Russia due to its “deeply negative influence on the human psyche.”
One popular porn website Brazzers has already been banned by Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor on Tuesday, meaning that users in the country can no longer access their servers.
Themoscowtimes.com reports:
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.