Website with HIV information blocked in Russia under gay propaganda law
Parni PLUS wasn't notified and did not have time to appeal
By Steve Brown
Russia has blocked a website which was a portal for LGBT health and HIV information.
Parni PLUS – which translates as Guys Plus – received a notice from the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, known as Roskomnadzor.
The Burlinsky District Court ruled back in January that the website contains information that “challenges family values that promote unconventional sexual relations”.
However, Parni PLUS was only notified of the decision on April 28, leaving no time for them to appeal, according to Gay Star News.
The Roskomnadzor told the site it had 24 hours to remove the prohibited content from the website or to restrict access to it claiming it violated Russia’s 2013 gay propaganda law.
However, it reportedly fails to say exactly what law the site broke.
The website said in a statement: “Parni PLUS has hired lawyers to appeal the ruling. Our resource has existed for more than 10 years and consistently informs people about the HIV situation in Russia, gay health issue and other events of the LGBT world.”
This isn’t the first LGBT site to be blocked in the country after its longest running LGBT+ website was blocked at the end of March.