Russia blocks Twitlonger

The Russian federal government’s media watchdog, Roskomnadzor, has blocked the online service Twitlonger, which allows Twitter users to write messages that are longer than 140 characters. According to Russian officials, Twitlonger’s website contains information that is illegal in Russia.

“Multiple attempts to contact the website’s administrators failed to result in the removal of the banned content,” Roskomnadzor said in a statement.

According to the government’s registry of banned websites, there are at least two links to Twitlonger content that upset the Russian authorities: a story about the infamous Chechen terrorist titled Shamil Basayev Was Right (An Opinion Piece), which was banned in Russia by a court, and another story titled Let’s Hear it for Putin’s Immediate Resignation and the Cancellation of Navalny’s Verdict! which was banned by the Attorney General.