Russian telecom and mass media watchdog Roskomnadzor has restored access to the website of the Tor Project, implementing a court ruling with delay. The site was blacklisted last year but the measure was successfully challenged by lawyers.
Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, also known as Roskomnadzor or RKN, has taken the Tor Project’s main site out of its register of internet sources restricted for disseminating prohibited information. The delisting follows a court’s decision and comes with a two-month delay.
The government agency took steps to restrict access to the website for Russian internet users in December, last year. The measure was imposed to implement a ruling by the Saratov District Court from late 2017.
“Roskomnadzor, of course, indecently delayed the unblocking of the site, because the decision to block it was canceled on May 19, and since then there has been no reason to find the Tor Project in the register,” commented Ekaterina Abashina, Roskomsvoboda’s lawyer representing the affected platform.
Roskomsvoboda’s expert also reminded that the court of appeals has sent the case back to the court of first instance for a new trial, the first hearing of which was expected to take place this week. Reporting on these developments, crypto news outlet Forklog noted that in mid-July the Tor Project team introduced an updated version of the Tor browser, designed to bypass such restrictions.
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