Cloudflare IP / Hive ban in Russia

[biridius]

I had trouble accessing the site recently and decided to check the registry of blocked websites. And it was there, with no explanation though, only a link to the law for censorship where it lists all the bad stuff under 15.1

On the screenshot - the result of looking up Hive in the registry. Says it's blocked since November 22.
So, Hive blocked in Russia. Thoughts?

Edit: it's unblocked now, updated the OP for clarity.

 

[biridius]

Asked about it on xgm, the admin looked up the case and said it's an issue with Cloudflare IPs being shared by multiple websites some of which might have legit reasons for being blocked.
I had similar issues directly accessing Hive and Duolingo before and it was probably caused by the same thing.

Edit: did the IP change again? It's accessible now, wasn't for several hours.
Hive is still in the registry though, maybe it just randomly got an unblocked IP temporarily.

 

[Ralle]

Oh damn. Thanks for the enlightenment

 

[biridius]

So they say it's because of this random post. It's ridiculous.

Translator Avaible = ME!

Hi, I offer to translate texts or words for you in any language in any language using my secret source. You do not need to know my source, just ask me and I promise that the translation will be very quick. Do not forget that I can use the computer only Friday, Saturday and Sunday, rarely. :cool:

www.hiveworkshop.com

Details of block

Реестр запрещенных сайтов

Реестр запрещенных сайтов. Реестр организаторов распространения информации. Реестр новостных агрегаторов.

reestr.rublacklist.net

We are thinking about sending an appeal. May I ask you to please delete the suicide meme from 2008?

 

[powerrrr]

Dont know if that a good idea to fallow ours braindead law. But a lot of russians were using that site, now we cant. Sad

 

[Ralle]

ProtonVPN can probably help. 4 EUR per month.

 

[biridius]

I guess it's not a big deal, peope often already use vpns because of all the blocking. Hive opens for me right now, but others say it doesn't for them.
Anyway, thanks for removing the meme. I'll see what can be done about appealing the block.

Edit: Looks like the appeal can only be done by site owners and written in russian.

 

[WinterSnow]

So they say it's because of this random post. It's ridiculous.

Translator Avaible = ME!

Hi, I offer to translate texts or words for you in any language in any language using my secret source. You do not need to know my source, just ask me and I promise that the translation will be very quick. Do not forget that I can use the computer only Friday, Saturday and Sunday, rarely. :cool:

www.hiveworkshop.com

Details of block

Реестр запрещенных сайтов

Реестр запрещенных сайтов. Реестр организаторов распространения информации. Реестр новостных агрегаторов.

reestr.rublacklist.net

We are thinking about sending an appeal. May I ask you to please delete the suicide meme from 2008?

Beyond ridiculous. Hope they appeal the ban.

 

[fbsonar]

I guess it's not a big deal, peope often already use vpns because of all the blocking. Hive opens for me right now, but others say it doesn't for them.
Anyway, thanks for removing the meme. I'll see what can be done about appealing the block.

Edit: Looks like the appeal can only be done by site owners and written in russian.

They're really braindead.
Although, I haven't found info if it can or can't be written in English.

 

[biridius]

I thought at first there was a simple appeal form, but because each site is blocked by court it's not that simple.
I can't just ask Hive staff fly to Russian court, so guess that's the end of it.

Update: looks like it's unblocked.

 

[The_Silent]

Wauw, that is crazy.
And just because of a random thread AND appealing it is made really hard. Ouch

 

[powerrrr]

Wauw, that is crazy.
And just because of a random thread AND appealing it is made really hard. Ouch

U cant imagine what to live here is xD

 

[Nightmare2077]

Ugh this is lunacy.
I'm from Russia, and Hive Workshop means a lot to me.
We shouldn't let this slide, lads. We gotta try and fight that silly descision...

These lads might be onto something: Роскомнадзор заблокировал The Hive Workshop - XGM Team / Административное - XGM

ProtonVPN can probably help. 4 EUR per month.

Ralle, just to be on the safe side, can you delete the whole of this message? Translator Avaible = ME! Like edit it to have 1 word or something. In case the officials want to be stubborn (yes of course it makes no sense but neither did the original blocking. That's how "law" in Russia works; we'll need every edge if we stand a chance)

PS: suggestion to use a VPN misess the point - 80-90% of the users won't bother with it. Besides, on paper it's illegal in Russia.

Hidden

I'm writing this from Turkey, Roskomnadzor, check my passport for the stamp thank you your welcome

 

[Ralle]

Deleted the thread.

 

[Nightmare2077]

Hi all,

So according to the official webpage, Hive was thankfully unbanned in Russia on Decmber 1st Реестр запрещенных сайтов

Thanks Ralle for cooperation, we have weather this storm

 

[Dr Super Good]

Maybe controversial sections like Something Else should be placed behind a login wall to view with a content warning. This way trawler robots and social justice warriors might not try to dig up decade old posts to ban the site on new regulations as they are not publicly visible to unregistered users and not returned by search engines. This also would deal with all the censorship complaints that filled discord in response to the message being deleted, as hopefully messages will not need to be deleted.

I think it might also be wise to start building the infrastructure for moderators and resource authors to set specific resources to require login to download and view. Although it should not be used, this might be needed if legal systems start targeting specific assets or maps available on this site and deleting/removing them might not be a good precedence.

 

[Ralle]

That's a really good idea DSG. I will keep this tab open to apply it later today

 

[Ralle]

Done!

 

[Ardenaso]

Hi all,

So according to the official webpage, Hive was thankfully unbanned in Russia on Decmber 1st Реестр запрещенных сайтов

Thanks Ralle for cooperation, we have weather this storm

nice!

 

[Dr Super Good]

Russia appears to be stepping up its prosecution of entities deemed distributing illegal content online. Both Google and Meta have recently been hit with substantial fines.

Russia fines Google over illegal content breach

The verdict marks the first time Russia has fined a technology giant based on their annual turnover.

www.bbc.co.uk

(one example of the news item, it is currently being run by a lot of alternatives)

Unfortunately it might be time to prepare functionality to regionally block specific content (threads/resources) based on requesting IP address. Although I heavily object to such censorship it might be required as a last resort should the Russian authorities become aware of content they deem inappropriate. Requiring login should prevent trawlers digging such content up from risky sections, but it is unlikely to be enough should they somehow find such content such as by a user report. In such case this functionality would prevent unfair censorship affecting other regions and hopefully be sufficient to keep most of the services Hive offers, minus the "offending" items, available to people in Russia.

 

[Ralle]

I don't know how Russia could fine me. I do no business in Russia.

 

[Nightmare2077]

I'll have to agree with Ralle here. Crazy as our government is, that stupid 8-day ban was a fluke. Hive is far too insignificant (and far too far away) to interest any corrupt Russian officials, unlike google or facebook.

 

[Dr Super Good]

I don't know how Russia could fine me. I do no business in Russia.

They could block Hive in Russia though, which was the initial problem that started this thread. Meta and Google were fined because they said they will block content in compliance, but failed to block such content and comply enough. Other websites like LinkedIn and Dailymotion did not comply at all and so are blocked in Russia.