Russia’s federal censor blocks Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s website ‘duma.vote’

Russia’s federal censor (Roskomnadzor) blocked former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s website “duma.vote,” reported the digital rights group Roskomsvoboda on Monday, September 13.

Access to the website, which is dedicated to the candidates currently running for parliament in Russia, was blocked at the request of the Attorney General’s Office. Roskomnadzor added duma.vote to its list of banned sites on the basis of Article 15.3 of the law “On Information.” This legislation provides for blocking resources over calls for mass disorder or extremist activities, as well as for the dissemination of information of public interest that’s known to be unreliable.

Khodorkovsky’s duma.vote website went live in June. It allows users to search for any of the current State Duma candidates by last name or constituency, and shows whether or not they’ve taken a public stance on Putin running for re-election in 2024.

In August, Open Media, MBK Media, and the human rights group Pravozhashchita Otkrytki shut down after Roskomnadzor blocked their websites. All three projects were linked to Khodorkovsky.

The Russian State Duma elections are scheduled to take place from September 17 to 19.