Russia bans adult website Brazzers for being damaging to the human psyche

Russia’s government isn't a big fan of online pornography. Following the blacklisting of video sites PornHub and YouPorn last September, the country’s media watchdog, Roskomnadzor, has now blocked access to another popular adult site from parent distribution company MindGeek: Brazzers.

The ban is the result of a case from last October, brought against the Montreal, Canada-based firm by local prosecutors working "in the interests of the Russian Federation." As reported by The Moscow Times, the Bolsheglushitsky District Court of Samara Region ultimately ruled that the site’s content had a “deeply negative influence on the human psyche,” and that it “violated citizens’ rights.”

Russians only make up around 4 percent of all Brazzers’ traffic, but the number of visitors from the country has doubled over the last year. The company responded to the ban with a tweet that read: "Disappointed to hear that on such cold winter nights the good citizens of Russia have been denied the warm embrace of Brazzers entertainment."

Roskomnadzor’s second banning of PornHub (the first was in 2015) came after accusation that the portal had violated child protection laws. The agency suggested that one Twitter user “meet someone in real life” as an alternative to using the popular site. Thankfully for him, both PornHub and YouPorn have since had their bans lifted.

Russia’s blacklisting of Brazzers because it supposedly damages the human psyche and violates human rights comes just as President Vladimir Putin signed a law that makes domestic violence legal in the country. Beating your spouse and children is now classified as a civil dispute rather than a criminal offense, and doing it without breaking bones is now punishable by a fine, or up to 15 days in prison if determined to be “serious,” instead of the previous two-year maximum prison sentence. The abuse isn’t a criminal matter unless it happens more than once a year. But at least Russians are protected from the dangers of Brazzers.