This decision was brought forth by Roskomnadzor (the Russian Federal IT and Mass Communications Surveillance and Control Office), which included the Internet resource to the Uniform Register of Prohibited Websites.
The Roskomnadzor letter informs that the ban is imposed in accordance with the decision of the Burlinsky District Court of the Altai Territory dated January 26, 2018. Despite the fact that several months have passed since the court verdict, the administration of the portal has only learned about the ban, having missed all possible deadlines for appeal because of this.
From the moment of receiving the notice from the hosting provider about the inclusion of the website in the register, the administrators have 24 hours to remove the inappropriate content. But the “public morality guardians” do not indicate which specific material they consider detrimental for the family values. According to the Roskomnadzor letter, the reason for the ban was that “The website contains information denying family values that promotes unconventional sexual relations and recognized as prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation”, without specifying the information itself.
Portal “Parniplus (Guys+)” contacted lawyers for assistance and will seek to abolish the prohibition. “Our resource has existed for more than 10 years and consistently informs about the situation with HIV in Russia, epidemics among homosexual people and other events of the LGBT world”, the portal’s representatives reported.
UNAIDS emphasized the negative consequences of bashing the websites that ensure information and awareness on HIV prevention in the LGBT community. “The prohibition of the “Parniplus” website will deprive people of the opportunity to receive important information about HIV infection, which may affect the growth of new cases among gay men”, UNAIDS Regional Director for EECA Vinay Saldana said, as the СПИД.ЦЕНТР resource reports.
Worth mentioning, that this is not the first time that the fate of LGBT resources is determined by the judicial bodies of the Altai Territory. A month ago Roskomnadzor banned gay.ru website upon the decision of the Altai district court of the village of Belyi Yar of the Republic of Khakassia. And in early April, State Duma deputy Vitaly Milonov appealed to the Prosecutor General’s Office demanding to close the СПИД.ЦЕНТР website.