Investigative publications Open Media and MBK Media, and human rights group Pravozaschcita Oktrytki, all groups affiliated with dissident ex-oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, have had their websites blocked by Roskomnadzor, the state media regulator.  

All three announced that they are ending their operations last week, with the top concern being the safety of their employees.  

Roskomnadzor was acting on an order from the Office of the Prosecutor General under a law allowing the blocking of extremist content. Roskomnadzor gave Open Media no advanced warning of the intent to block their website. When the publication did receive word that they had inappropriate content, they were not told what the content in question was. Khodorkovsky suggested that Putin “chill out”.

In the aftermath of Proekt’s designation last week as undesirable and The Insider’s designation as a foreign agent, director of the Foreign Intelligence Service Sergey Naryshkin has criticised the two for their connections to the investigative group Bellingcat. Naryshkin claimed that Bellingcat is full of former employees of Western intelligence that will do anything for money. Bellingcat reported on the downing of MH17 in Ukraine, the poisoning of Alexey Navalny and Sergei Skripal, and the explosion of a Czech ammunition depot — all attributed to Russia.

Chart:  Does the Russian public even know about the “foreign agent” law that has been used against independent media and NGOs? The chart shows those that have never heard of the law (gray), those that have heard something about it but do not have a clear understanding of it (light blue), those that understand it well (dark blue) and those that find it difficult to answer (black).