Russian Wikipedia shut down to protest ‘censorship’ bill


In a move that echoes the American anti-Stop Online Piracy Act blackouts from earlier this year, Wikipedia shut down its Russian page on Tuesday in a 24-hour protest against a proposed bill that would grant the Russian government power to blacklist certain Web sites.

The Russian page now displays a black “censored” rectangle over the Wikipedia nameplate. A statement warns that the Russian parliament will hold “a second hearing to amend the ‘Law of Information,’ which can lead to the creation of extra-judicial censorship of the Internet in Russia, including the loss of access to Wikipedia in Russian.” The hearing is slated for Wednesday, according to the Guardian.

“The bill's backers, from Putin's United Russia party, argue that the amendments to the country's information legislation would target child pornography and sites that promote drug use and teen suicide. But critics, including Russian-language Wikipedia, warned that it could be used to boost government censorship over the internet,” the Guardian reported.

The Wikipedia statement warned that following the wording of the proposed amendment would result in a Russian equivalent of “the Great Chinese firewall,” for a country that has so far had relatively unrestricted Internet access.

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