Russia has blocked further websites of dozens of government critics, most of them connected to jailed dissident Alexei Navalny, in a move that critics say increasingly threatens freedom of speech in the country.
The independent organization Roskomsvoboda, which advocates free access to the internet, reported that the prosecutor general's office in Moscow decided to block a total of 49 sites.
According to the organization, in addition to all of Navalny’s websites, including those of his anti-corruption foundation, access is now denied to the website of opposition politician Lyubov Sobol and that of the Independent Alliance of Doctors, which had reported on shortcomings during the pandemic in Russia.
Authorities had previously banned political organizations linked to Navalny for being "extremist" groups.
Leonid Volkov, who is close to Navalny, predicted that a website called Vote Smart would also be blocked ahead of September’s parliamentary elections.
'Instruct' voters
The opposition is planning to use the website to instruct voters on how to best cast their votes to prevent candidates from the ruling United Russia party from winning seats in the State Duma.
Thousands of websites are currently blocked in Russia, including from opposition politicians and independent and critical media.
The authorities justify such bans with violations of Russian law, according to which access to content classified as extremist is to be denied. Critics on the other hand complain that dissident voices are increasingly being criminalized.
