github/roskomnadzor — pull request #3 by yar (2014-12-05 10:00:15+00:00)
Title: Clarifying the cultural sensitivities.

Dear Github. In your judgement, please be informed about the nature of Roskomnadzor.

In 2012, the Russian parliament passed a law entitled ["On protection of children from information harming their health and development"](http://www.consultant.ru/document/cons_doc_LAW_169775/). It essentially granted the right to Roskomnadzor to ban web pages, but the list of reasons was advertised to the public as explicit and closed: child pornography, promotion of drug use, promotion of suicide. There were bad omens even then, but, of course, nobody could say much against banning child pornography.

Just one year later, in 2013, the Russian parliament quietly added one more reason for blocks: "calls to unsanctioned protests". (That was a big one, because public protests became sanctioned or unsanctioned completely at the discretion of the state officials.) The procedure of these bans was different in that the ban was to be effected instantly on the network level, without the preliminary steps such as sending take-down notices.

Also, in 2013, they updated that law, [replacing](http://www.consultant.ru/document/cons_doc_LAW_133757/?frame=2) a vague phrase about "family values" with a concrete directive to ban websites "promoting non-traditional sexual relations".

Roskomnadzor banned several popular websites of opposition politicians. Despite their repeated attempts to find out what specific phrase on what specific page caused the ban, there were no answers and no lifting of the ban (of the whole website).

We (developers and CTOs of Russian IT companies, the paying users of Github) have no difficulty in accessing Github either way. However, there is a big difference for the public awareness to the rise of the bans – between quietly complying and doing something against it.

You are now witnessing another Great Chinese Firewall in creation. You can find yourself either assisting, or upholding the freedom of speech.