Russia blocks online art community DeviantArt for not deleting content -Ifax

Russia blocks online art community DeviantArt for not deleting content -Ifax
By Reuters
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MOSCOW - Russia has blocked DeviantArt, an online community for artists and designers, over its failure to remove prohibited content, the Interfax news agency cited state communications regulator Roskomnadzor as saying on Wednesday.

DeviantArt is an online community based in Los Angeles for artists and designers with more than 60 million registered users. Neither DeviantArt nor its parent company, Israel-based Wix.com, were immediately available to comment.

Roskomnadzor on July 29 sent a request to DeviantArt to remove unlawful content on its site, saying certain pages contained child pornography, pro-drug and pro-Nazi content, as well as other prohibited images.

The regulator warned that the site would be restricted if action was not taken, but said it hoped DeviantArt would comply with its demands as the resource is popular with Russian users.

Roskomnadzor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Moscow routinely fines social media giants for similarly failing to remove banned content, part of a wider standoff between Russia and Big Tech.

Founded in 2000, DeviantArt was bought by Wix.com in 2017 for $36 million.

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