Many Russians are fans of major porn sites Pornhub and YouPorn but they all hit a brick wall last week when they no longer can access the two sites.
Apparently, Russia has come to a decision to ban the two major porn sites as part of the crackdown on internet pornography by the country’s media watchdog, Roskomnadzor, reports the Daily Mail.
The porn sites’ Russian users were disappointed that they were blocked on the decision of public authorities and took to social media to express their disappointment and outrage over the curtailment of their freedom.
In deciding to impose the ban, the Russian government also told the users of Pornhub and YouPorn to just meet someone in real life instead of fantasizing about someone they only see on their PCs, laptops, or mobile devices.
Pornhub and YouPorn are two of the biggest porn sites in the world and reports have it that the ban shall be sweeping since it shall involve several more sites in the future. Last year, the Russian government also banned 11 popular porn sites in the country.
Based on court rulings
The decision of the Russian government to ban porn sites came from two separate court rulings which determined that the websites are spreading pornography, contrary to Russian laws against the production, dissemination, and advertisement of pornographic materials and objects.
Pornhub responded to the issue on social media with witty, albeit sarcastic remarks. But the Russian government agency Roskomnadzor replied with sarcasm of its own.
The porn site tweeted that they are willing to give the agency a Pornhub Premium account just to allow Russian users to access their site but Roskomnadzor responded by saying that they are not in the market for such website services.
Russian users and fans of the popular porn sites took to social media to express their frustration with the government’s decision. In fact, Russian activist Nadya Tolokonnikova quipped that the ban is a blow below the belt, figuratively and literally perhaps.
However, hope might not be lost yet for Russian users still determined to access adult content on Pornhub despite their government’s ban. The site has shared an address that it claims is not blocked.
In response to the porn site’s strategy, one Russian user tweeted that it is an awkward moment when Pornhub cares about them more than their government does.
Curtailing some of its citizens’ habits
Some critics believe that despite attempting to curtail some of their citizen’s masturbation habits, the Russian authorities are not without humor on the matter of banning Pornhub and YouPortn.
In September last year, after their first attempt to ban Pornhub, Roskomnadzor replied via their Twitter account to one frustrated wanker asking for an alternative by advising him to just meet someone in real life.
Roskomnadzor’s completely unhelpful advice caused hilarity as well as some anger as any suggestion of censorship or restrictions on smut to millennial, post-internet types is viewed as quite ridiculous, notes the Independent of UK.
Millennials view the concept of free, readily available masturbation material as a human right and any attempt to even suggest that they shut their eyes and try to imagine rude things themselves with their own brain can be described as anywhere between Luddite, Draconian, and plainly kinky.
Incidentally, BuzzFeed has recently come up with a surreal list for Pornhub, by saying that the porn site has proven that redhead porn stars are being searched more in the Czech Republic than in the US.
Interestingly, the US only ranks 11 among the list of countries where Pornhub users are rampantly always in search of redhead porn stars.
After the Czech Republic, the countries where the search for redhead porn stars are very strong include Ireland, the United Kingdom, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Canada, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany.
Interestingly, nine out of the top 10 are European countries and the two others in the list of top 11 are from North America.
Based on the demographics listed by BuzzFeed, it is men in the age brackets of 18 to 24 and 45 to 54 who prefer to search for redheads more than any other classification of porn stars.