Thread: Reddit Banned?

Allegedly, a bunch of English sources are saying "putin" has banned Reddit in Russia. Most of my American friends are just immediately believing this, which bothers me. They just assume that Russia is 1000% corrupt and has no hope.

Hmm, I can't open it. The news says that only one discussion within the reddit website is blocked however. Will see how this turns out. Bypassing the restricion is easy as pie though.

I can open it now. Provider is TTK.

Originally Posted by Alex80

I can open it now. Provider is TTK.

My guys have fixed it as well. It just works now, no drama.

Reddit uses https, so most of the lame Internet providers are technically unable to do anything but block the entire domain, even if they were trying to only block a single webpage on it. There have already been similar cases, check this out:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_of_GitHub

On December 2, 2014, Roscomnadzor blocked GitHub because it was hosting various copies of a suicide manual. Because GitHub uses HTTPS, which encrypts data between a user's computer and GitHub, Internet Service Providers were forced to block the whole website instead of the pages in question. Complying ISP's included: Beeline, MTS, MGTS and Megafon.

I would say it's nice to realize that most countries still don't censor the Internet no matter what, but it's sad some countries that used to be ok before start doing that...

https://tjournal.ru/p/reddit-block-reaction

Classic Russia, "Do as we say, or we will punish our citizens."

In USA, you have rights. In Soviet Russia, rights have you.

America would never ban Reddit for hosting sites that promote suicide and drugs. I'm so proud to live in a country that doesn't care what happens to it's people... Not. But hey, Americans have the right to expose each other and their kids to every possible danger... Not my kids when I have them. They won't be born here.

If a government does care what happens to it's people, it should deal with corrupt officials, drug dealers, gangsters, illegal immigration, discrimination, violations of human rights, public health issues and so on. Not with journalists, internet trolls, or just random internet users.

Roskomnadzor bans media for publishing reasons of suicides.
There are no reasons to commit suicide in happy Soviet Russia. Is the Big Brother's message clear enoght?

Originally Posted by RedFox

If a government does care what happens to it's people, it should deal with corrupt officials, drug dealers, gangsters, illegal immigration, discrimination, violations of human rights, public health issues and so on. Not with journalists, internet trolls, or just random internet users.

Roskomnadzor bans media for publishing reasons of suicides.
There are no reasons to commit suicide in happy Soviet Russia. Is the Big Brother's message clear enoght?

Well, business consultants would know a lot about the legal angle - especially consultants that are all over IT.
And one part of your first sentence does explain it - If a government does care about what happens to it's people, it should deal with drug dealers. That's exactly what Roscomnadzor did. They have the right to block sites without a court ruling and they used that to block the "magic mushroom growing guide" by blocking Reddit.
When Reddit complied with their demands, Reddit was restored.
Russia blocked & unblocked Reddit

Btw, Freedom of Speech can be tunnel vision. For example, do Bradley Manning, Snowden, and Assange have Freedom of Speech? Well, Snowden does but only because he's in Russia. If he was in the US he would be in prison.
So no, I won't always respond to the "Freedom of Speech" card when somebody pulls it.
Also, anyone that reads the Russian news knows that Russia is having a serious problem with drugs. So I wasn't very surprised when I read the first article about banning Reddit. Drugs have been causing a lot of deaths.

Originally Posted by UhOhXplode

They have the right to block sites without a court ruling and they used that to block the "magic mushroom growing guide" by blocking Reddit.

LOL!

There are LOTS AND LOTS graffiti with phone numbers of drug dealers in my city; the number of drug addicts is constanly growing; chinese synthetic drugs kill more and more people; and nobody cares.

Of course, fighting against an anonymous internet troll on Reddit is the best possible way to spend taxpayers' money.

They ban sites that publich "drug propaganda" instead of solving drug crimes in the real life. In Russia, we call it имитация бурной деятельности.

I don't usually agree with RedFox on his views on the current state of Russia, but here I have to agree to some extent. Banning a damn internet page is a whole lot easier than dealing with actual drug dealers that openly put their phone number on sides of buildings or even better - put their Skype accounts.

They only do this sh!t to imitate some semblance of activity, so they can refer to it as their good deed for the day. You know, to placate the masses.

Just a reminder though, nowhere is perfect.

I don't see a big deal in banning web page if there's a good reason for it.

Don't understand what's all that fuss about.

Originally Posted by RedFox

LOL!

There are LOTS AND LOTS graffiti with phone numbers of drug dealers in my city; the number of drug addicts is constanly growing; chinese synthetic drugs kill more and more people; and nobody cares.

Of course, fighting against an anonymous internet troll on Reddit is the best possible way to spend taxpayers' money.

They ban sites that publich "drug propaganda" instead of solving drug crimes in the real life. In Russia, we call it имитация бурной деятельности.

It's the same here. A lot of political speeches and no action. But sometimes even a government can't stop stupid.

Originally Posted by Suobig

I don't see a big deal in banning web page if there's a good reason for it.

Don't understand what's all that fuss about.

It's about the fact that not all people want parts of the Internet banned for them, for whatever reason, and the rights of those who don't want that are violated.

PS. It's relatively easy with the Internet though, nearly every school kid knows how to use VPN to bypass those bans, but the repressive structures in Russia have been doing a lot more beyond censoring the Internet lately. Consider the food ban, for instance, along with the latest bizarre food extermination cases.

Originally Posted by Eric C.

It's about the fact that not all people want parts of the Internet banned for them, for whatever reason, and the rights of those who don't want that are violated.

That statement is borderline anarchy. There are important reasons why countries have laws. And promoting dangerous drugs violates those laws in both the West and in Russia.

Originally Posted by Eric C.

PS. It's relatively easy with the Internet though, nearly every school kid knows how to use VPN to bypass those bans, but the repressive structures in Russia have been doing a lot more beyond censoring the Internet lately. Consider the food ban, for instance, along with the latest bizarre food extermination cases.

The repressive structures in the West have been doing a lot beyond sanctioning Russia, too. They violate our rights to peaceful protest, free speech online, privacy, and even freedom of movement. If you travel in the US, you are searched at every airport and if you drive then you are stopped by roadblocks and searched. I was also warned to take identification with me wherever I go. They can arrest you in the US if you don't have identification.
For example, my grandad damaged his foot last winter when he slipped on some ice. He left his identification at home since he wasn't going very far. The police made him stand up on his damaged foot. They put him in the police car, ran background checks, and threatened to arrest him. They didn't even offer to get medical attention. If my dad hadn't found him, they would have put him in jail.

Also, who would even eat those foods? They weren't properly stored and they weren't inspected. And there were probably GMO's too. Dangerous foods should be destroyed to protect people.
Well, now you can add Proctor & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, and Henkel to the list. I can't believe that article claimed that food sanctions were the cause of food prices going up in Russia. I think that was more about the huge drop in oil prices and the Western sanctions.
Russia bans 'toxic' Western soaps - Aug. 26, 2015

I don't see any reason for Russians to crawl on their knees for food. Our food prices are always going up and we don't.