Russian Government Threatening To Block Reddit Over Cannabis

An anonymous reader writes: The Russian Government is threatening to block the social linking site Reddit across its country if they do not comply with removing a thread dedicated to growing cannabis. According to a post on VK.com, Roskomnadzor the Russian FCC, has asked Reddit administrator to read their emails and their social media posts stating that they want /r/trees brought down which had posted an article about growing narcotic plants. Recently, Reddit changed its rules to allow illegal discussions on its site but they say that they would continue to block things such as copyrighted material.

Comments

It's already BEEN blocked.

[Anonymous Coward]

https://www.reddit.com/r/tifu/comments/3grpdf/tifu_by_getting_reddit_banned_in_russia/

Re:It's already BEEN blocked.

[Anonymous Coward]

reddit
source
choose one

Re:It's already BEEN blocked.

[Mashiki]

I'm surprised reddit didn't simply fall in step. They seem to have no problems banning users and subs already on things that they disagree with.

Re:It's already BEEN blocked.

[Vokkyt]

No it isn't. I'm in St. Petersburg right now and can access it just fine.

Going to the following link will result in an error 403, but you can browse anywhere else just fine, HTTPS and all. This should not be marked insightful.

Re: It's already BEEN blocked.

[Anonymous Coward]

Problem is that "everyone has their rights", but this doesn't indicate why white supremacists aren't allowed their right to hate niggers and make it absolutely clear that this is what they feel. Or why people don't have the right to make copies of stuff they bought. Or why, if it's only licensed, why they need to buy another license for the same thing on a different medium. Or why you're not allowed the right to sell weed. Or have sex with a minor who agrees to the act. Or be a minor and have sex with an adult. Or distribute pictures of yourself to your boy or girl friend naked when the boy/girl friend is not an adult either.

Why are these rights not rights? Because collectively we decided through our respective governments that they are not rights you have to exercise because of their result on the welfare of others.

Why is it wrong to be able to say "I am a racist and I refuse to change. I hate niggers, I believe they are spawn of Satan and are not even human"? Why is it wrong to draw pictures of gruesome tortures of black people and post them on the same reddit? After all, pictures of similar gruesomely burned bodies can be seen in any documentary on the Holocaust. Violence, or realistically believable threats of violence can be argued as a right that would infringe on the more important rights to safety and health of others, so this can easily be considered restricted. But absent that, why should reddit ban hateful bigoted screeds of morons who really REALLY don't have empathy for others if they don't appear to be nearly identical with their own perceived self?

ANY reasoning to stop that can ONLY be justified with something other than "gwown ups realizing all people deserve wights". What about the right of the mad bigot?

Because you don't merely have rights and some rights aren't valid by fiat.

Re:It's already BEEN blocked.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm in St. Petersburg which one? In US or in Russia?

Joking aside, blocklist are not become effective immediately all over our beloved pseudo-country. Some ISP implement it faster, other slower. It often takes days, if not weeks. With quickly growing size of blacklist, I won't be surprising that some ISP don't implement some parts of it ever (bribing handlers costs less).

Re:It's already BEEN blocked.

[Anonymous Coward]

Several posters from Russia have commented that they were able to view reddit freely without VPNs or such. This TIFU made up, just like most of the garbage that gets posted to reddit these days.

Re: It's already BEEN blocked.

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a matter of venue. Reddit is a private company with the privilege and right to outline acceptable behavior. If they don't like what you say, they can kick you out. Only the government is barred from restricting your freedom of speech, not other private citizens and organizations.

Re: It's already BEEN blocked.

[KGIII]

I seem to recall that that user is not actually white. I am sure you will find another justification, however. *sighs* Save the drama for Reddit.

Re: It's already BEEN blocked.

[Threni]

Go be a racist prick somewhere else. Reddit isn't for racist pricks. Get your own forum, perhaps?

Re: It's already BEEN blocked.

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a matter of venue. Russia is a sovereign country with the privilege and right to outline acceptable behavior. If they don't like what you say, they can kick you out.

Re: It's already BEEN blocked.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, but if they don't like what you say, they don't kick you out, they throw you in jail. Bit different.

Re: It's already BEEN blocked.

[Coren22]

Whereas pricks like you are perfectly acceptable.

Re: It's already BEEN blocked.

[Anonymous Coward]

Not if you're an arab.

Re: It's already BEEN blocked.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, calling a racist a prick is the action of a normal, healthy member of society.

Re: It's already BEEN blocked.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes.

Your words buddy.

Now you get to fucking choke on them. :)

Yes, it's ok to say racist assoles are harmful and deserve to be censored. Have a nice day.

Re: It's already BEEN blocked.

[Coren22]

Funny, I don't need to eat any words. What did Mashiki say that was racist, and how is responding to him in such a prickish way appropriate in polite society?

Re: It's already BEEN blocked.

[Stolovaya]

Private citizens and organizations can censor, so you're wrong. While they're allowed to censor what goes on their site, for a site that once touted itself as a place for free speech...kind of hypocritical.

Re:It's already BEEN blocked.

[barc0001]

It isn't something a lot of Reddit users and probably admins disagree with so that is probably part of it. More importantly it's illegal in Russia and most of the world, but it is LEGAL in 4 (and counting) US states. So does Reddit start banning things that are illegal only in some places? What happens when Saudi Arabia's government objects to threads being posted with pictures showing women not appropriately dressed for Saudi Arabian standards? Or the subreddits for beer and craft brewing, etc I am sure are all highly illegal in several Muslim countries, gotta ban those too right?

Re:It's already BEEN blocked.

[Anonymous Coward]

If you can browse any other link on reddit via HTTPS but not that specific link, then your certificates are likely compromised. Unless you think reddit itself is blocking that link.

Re: It's already BEEN blocked.

[Krojack]

I guess you haven't heard of /r/coontown which still exists even though /r/fatpeoplehate was banned.

Re: It's already BEEN blocked.

[Mashiki]

Go be a racist prick somewhere else. Reddit isn't for racist pricks. Get your own forum, perhaps?

Hmm...now where was I racist? That's right I wasn't. But it sure makes it easy to see the face of 'social justice.' That being, step out of line and get called racist, I'm surprised you didn't toss in how I was sexist and two or three other made-up things since that seems to be the SJW MO these days.

But, since /r/coontown is still alive and kicking, and I hazard you post there. I guess that you're a racist prick for posting there right? See how easy that works you filthy racist.

Of course reddit bans subs like /r/fph or /r/neofag(hint it was banned because of feelings, didn't dox, and was in line with the rules). Subs like /r/srs or /r/srd /r/circlebroke however engage in targeted harassment of people, break the brigading rule, and all that fun stuff but are still around. I wonder why? Oh that's right, because there are admins who are mods, and ceo's who post in those subs...

Re: It's already BEEN blocked.

[Mashiki]

That is the face of modern social justice. If they're not lying, they're inventing garbage to smear(you/someone else/etc) with.

Re: It's already BEEN blocked.

[doccus]

Problem is that "everyone has their rights", but this doesn't indicate why white supremacists aren't allowed their right to hate niggers and make it absolutely clear that this is what they feel. Or why people don't have the right to make copies of stuff they bought. Or why, if it's only licensed, why they need to buy another license for the same thing on a different medium. Or why you're not allowed the right to sell weed. Or have sex with a minor who agrees to the act. Or be a minor and have sex with an adult. Or distribute pictures of yourself to your boy or girl friend naked when the boy/girl friend is not an adult either.

Why are these rights not rights? Because collectively we decided through our respective governments that they are not rights you have to exercise because of their result on the welfare of others.

Why is it wrong to be able to say "I am a racist and I refuse to change. I hate niggers, I believe they are spawn of Satan and are not even human"? Why is it wrong to draw pictures of gruesome tortures of black people and post them on the same reddit? After all, pictures of similar gruesomely burned bodies can be seen in any documentary on the Holocaust. Violence, or realistically believable threats of violence can be argued as a right that would infringe on the more important rights to safety and health of others, so this can easily be considered restricted. But absent that, why should reddit ban hateful bigoted screeds of morons who really REALLY don't have empathy for others if they don't appear to be nearly identical with their own perceived self?

ANY reasoning to stop that can ONLY be justified with something other than "gwown ups realizing all people deserve wights". What about the right of the mad bigot?

Because you don't merely have rights and some rights aren't valid by fiat.

Rights equate with freedoms. A tolerant society should have freedoms "from". That is, freedoms "from" unlawful search and seizure, from discrimination, from , well, all those things that violate our rights to live a free and unfettered, secure life. Howevber, rights do NOT equate with "freedoms TO" engage in certain activities.. That is, freedoms to rape pillage, steal, and otherwise engage in activities that generally impinge on ANOTHER'S freedoms. So for a true understanding of whether the Russian gov't or Reddit is in the wrong, we need to look at who is supportive of the "freedoms from" end (if any), and who is acting in the "freedoms to" area (if any).

Phew lucky there is no thread on

[Anonymous Coward]

distilling Vodka. Written by homosexuals ... who dislike Assad.

Re:Phew lucky there is no thread on

[Opportunist]

Huh? What's wrong with distilling Vodka in Russia?

Re:Phew lucky there is no thread on

[dane23]

/r/firewater

"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[YoungManKlaus]

Discussing cannabis growth is not illegal. Actually growing cannabis is.

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[aevan]

This is Russia. This is Russian Government. I'd wager illegal is whatever they decide it is.

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[Anonymous Coward]

in some jurisdictions.

An in some jurisdictions possession/sale is illegal.

In most parts of the world there are landrace species of cannabis that just grows wild, as nature intended.

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[Anonymous Coward]

It's probably just a red herring for a spot of "great firewall of China"-style censorship.

Re: "allow illegal discussions on its site"

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't that true of basically every government? The general population rarely decides what is legal

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[Anonymous Coward]

Discussing how to get copyrighted works is not illegal. Actual piracy is. Doesn't stop links to DeCSS and 2600.com being "illegal". But that was decided by The Leader Of The Free World, not a Russian leader, who obviously is evil. Because he's russian, right? STOP ASKING FOR EQUVALENCE!!!!

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[umafuckit]

This is true, but overgrow shut down under odd circumstances. See also here.

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[Opportunist]

In NO jurisdiction, at least none that I'm aware of, it's illegal to TALK about cannabis.

If it is, please inform me so I can avoid jurisdictions that actually make KNOWLEDGE illegal.

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[wonkey_monkey]

Recently, Reddit changed its rules to allow illegal discussions on its site

It doesn't say which "illegal discussions" it decided to allow, nor exactly what is illegal about them. Perhaps what they meant was "discussion of illegal activities"?

I suspect whoever wrote that sentence wasn't really thinking about what they meant to say.

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[Anonymous Coward]

USA. If you are found discussing how to grow canabis, you will be investigated by the police and they WILL find something. Even if they have to put it in your pocket. You in a car with your girlfriend has a tiny amount of weed and you get shot in a mistaken drug sting operation? Her possession is justification for the police shooting you dead.

I don't know about you, but choosing between jail and death means I choose the one where I'm still alive.

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[Opportunist]

Like I needed another reason to avoid going to this country...

Re: "allow illegal discussions on its site"

[umghhh]

General population does not even want to do that.
There is also an issue if they are capable of doing things like: making informed guesses, making and applying plans, monitoring them and modifying them to adjust to the actual conditions (that is beyond comprehension even of the well educated software people that we work with), following a process and diverting from it when necessary and when adverse effects are still acceptable, communicating efficiently, respecting people of different opinions while knowing borders of this respect e.g. I respect your views only to the point where they have a direct deadly consequences - but even that has exceptions. Most of the people have basic understanding what is good and bad. We fail miserably however when discussion touches difficult subjects obscured by our feelings and technical complexity (what to do when the blood test shows you have AIDS - despair or make another test?). A flock of such miserable animals shall make a reasonable decision? Even in simple cases that is difficult and decisions that are to betaken are usually of a type: a runaway train goes direction of group of children, you have a switch that can put the train on alternate rail where only a old,fat, dirty man is drinking a bottle of vodka - what do you decide? What if our fat buddy is a group of doctors working on a cure for cancer? This is all complicated but add to this huge size of any modern society and lack of common values between large groups of people in it (liberals and tea party associates in US for instance). Then come corruption - outright or because if it does not matter anyway then why I should not take some money for TTIP for instance? I guess now we have a vision of our democratic societies.
If I be caught by police smoking a joint in Germany - my driving license will be gone and I can get it back only after I make an idiocy test - why?
All the usual nazifems go wild because Amnesty International supports prostitution now. None of those nazifems asked sex workers actually - they do not care.
In Russia these issues exist to but are expressed differently. It is easy to criticize and demand change. We all were very happy to criticize Assad - I think removal of Assad has still quite wide spread support in Western countries as it had back then when troubles started. The bloody hell that Syria has become since was predictable and exactly as it would happen if Assad was removed. I suggest we shall be very careful what we wish because we have to take responsibility after what we wished becomes reality - nobody wants all these thousands of refugees that come from north Africa and Syria now - they mostly come to Germany and Sweden - Germany did not want to have anything to do with toppling of Gaddafi - UK did, yet Germany accepts the refugees and UK defends itself as much as it can. It is easy to express well sounding wishes. To make the world better is not. After all these years I spent here, I think the best way to improve the world is to talk about it only - drinking your beverage of choice trough the night. The only consequence then is a headache.
Bottom line is this: we do not want to, can and possibly should make important decisions - as imperfect and unfair as it is - it seems that the status quo is the best we can get. How sad, is it not?

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[umghhh]

You could get charged for conspiracy to grow and sell. You could read how that worked in case of charges of conspiracy to produce pr0n that mr. Zappa was once a victim. You do not have to do the actual thing. Sometimes expressed wish can do. Even if get away with it - you may incur significant losses in the mean time unless you are Frank Zappa.

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[umghhh]

C'mon - somebody has to play Judas. If we do not have well divided roles the world falls apart.

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[Opportunist]

I can't help but think of https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[Anonymous Coward]

This is Russia. This is Russian Government. I'd wager illegal is whatever they decide it is.

Growing cannabis in the US is still illegal at fed level. Just because a minority of deadsville states have legalized purchasing it, primarily to attract visitors, doesn't mean we don't face jail time if caught with it across most of the country affecting the vast majority of the population.

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[arth1]

This is Russia. This is Russian Government. I'd wager illegal is whatever they decide it is.

Logically, it's not much different from the US government's Feinstein Amendment banning posting recipes for how to make explosives.
In either case, it's suppressing knowledge instead of the illegal actions themselves.

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[arth1]

If it is, please inform me so I can avoid jurisdictions that actually make KNOWLEDGE illegal.

How about the US government?

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[Anonymous Coward]

How is that Reddit forum _not_ a honeypot of some kind for law enforcement?

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[KGIII]

I can only assume that they were high when they posted it. Even before it was legal in my state there were people caught with POUNDS or THOUSANDS of plants who got a simple $1000 fine. It is not legal everywhere but it is decriminalized across much of the country. Also, you are pretty unlikely to die by a police officer's doing. That can (and does) happen but you usually have to go out of your way to do this. Note that that is usually. They may just shoot you for fun. *sighs* I do figure I might as well be honest. It is unlikely that they will but, well, they might. You're probably more likely to be shot by a criminal but the cops could, indeed, still decide to shoot you for no reason other than they decided they do not like you. Of course, I could decide the same thing and shoot you but I am unlikely to do so. You are far more likely to die on the toilet at home.

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[Anonymous Coward]

Whoa. Wait a minute. A country passing laws to deem what's legal and illegal? What a monstrosity! It's a dictatorship! Completely unheard of in a civilized society for a government to pass laws!

LITERALLY HITLER!

And with that, we shall commence our Two-Hours of Hate!

*fat rednecks furiously pull up their rascals to a television with Fox News blaring on it and begin to angrily chant, "Russia evil! Russia evil!" for 2 hours straight*

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[kilfarsnar]

Growing cannabis in the US is still illegal at fed level. Just because a minority of deadsville states have legalized purchasing it, primarily to stop filling their prisons and ruining people lives for a relatively benign activity, doesn't mean we don't face jail time if caught with it across most of the country affecting the vast majority of the population.

FTFY

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[Hevel-Varik]

Did you know this before he said it or do you know it because he said it, because people say all sorts of shit on the internet.

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[Anonymous Coward]

We can disagree here. The states that have allowed it are having a budget surplus.. and trust me a surplus of money in government is a very rare thing.

I'm with you -- potheads and their "don't give a shit" attitude about work quality is annoying... but I don't want to have a good chunk of my salary go for locking them up, nor do I want to have to pay for their welfare because they cannot get meaningful employment because of their criminal record. Nor do I want to deal with the increased crime rate when the only way to get cash to eat is to mug someone.

Lets be real here. Other than profit for private prisons, is there any real reason to lock up potheads?

1: It wastes money.
2: It wastes bed space better used for violent felons.
3: It removes people from the workforce.
4: It ruins people's futures.
5: It creates contempt for the legal system and government.
6: The government is not a good gay dungeon master.

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[Anonymous Coward]

As someone with some criminal justice experience, usually the cases you hear about where a cop has to shoot someone are because the other person is shooting at them, trying to run them over, or charging at the officer with a knife. Being shot dead is extremely rare.

What needs to be done in the US is to have police training not just about double-tap, arrests, and separating two drunk/drooling combatants. Europe, especially Germany, does one thing right -- the cop on the street basically has a master's degree in criminal justice. Things like negotiation, leadership training, and so on are so needed.

This is what we need here in the US. We are good with weaponry... but we need better training in things that don't involve pointing and going "BANG". I would love to see a police officer be a true profession like plumber, doctor, or electrician where it isn't just something that is done because it is there, but a true professional vocation.

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[painandgreed]

Growing cannabis in the US is still illegal at fed level. Just because a minority of deadsville states have legalized purchasing it, primarily to stop filling their prisons and ruining people lives for a relatively benign activity, doesn't mean we don't face jail time if caught with it across most of the country affecting the vast majority of the population.

FTFY

You forgot to mention cost. I highly suspect that if the Feds had given those "deadsville states", like Washington, serious grief about not respecting Federal Law, you would have seen a lot of cops holding people till Federal agents showed up. Probably more cops and people than there are Federal agents to investigate. Those wanted for Federal crimes would be moved to Federal holding facilities, where they would later be tried in Federal courts, and serve time in Federal prisons. I bet the last thing the Feds want is to fill their courts and prisons with casual pot smokers and small time dealers either.

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[kilfarsnar]

I wonder if the Feds (or the more reasonable among them) know that the writing is on the wall. They know that pot being illegal is stupid and that public opinion is against it, but they can't come out an say it yet. So they're letting these states take the lead to eventually provide cover for the Feds to officially change their policies.

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[owl57]

AFAIK, the discussion itself is legal in Russia. But Roskomnadzor maintains a list of websites publicly displaying (in the most strict sense: I haven't heard of their attention to pages which require any kind of registration to read) "information harmful to children" and ISPs are required by law to "protect children" from viewing the sites in that list.

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[Anonymous Coward]

Lets be real here. Other than profit for private prisons, is there any real reason to lock up potheads?

Companies that sell alcohol and caffeine have been big contributes to anti-drug commercials. I suspect they lobby for tougher drug laws as well.

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[shutdown -p now]

Russia, duh.

Specifically, this is Administrative Violations Codex, article 6.13, titled "Propaganda of narcotics, psychotropic substances or their precursors, plants containing narcotic or psychotropic substances or their precursors, and their parts containing narcotic or psychotropic substances or their precursors, and new potentially dangerous psychoactive substances".

Note that it is not a part of criminal law, so the most you can get is a fine and a few days in jail. But this is also the legal basis for blocking websites that publish this info. And there is talk among the parliamentarians to make it an actual felony.

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[Anonymous Coward]

potheads and their "don't give a shit" attitude about work quality is annoying

Take your stereotypes and bias somewhere else please, dickhead.

Re:"allow illegal discussions on its site"

[Anonymous Coward]

It is illegal, it is Islamic law, so the law is illegal because it pulls in Islam principle of law and Islam conquered the world thus. Cannabis is not a narcotic (sleep), it is a stupefacient (stupor), the correct classification according to who knows what researchers several decades ago (no references). It is actually the reason why we traded with India 2000 years (Bible) and why Europe set to explore the whole planet and find a shorter way to India (to avoid caravans, probably gone fanatic against). It does seem to have very different effects on Africans and on Humans so it is Africans (and Arabs) who go into stupor while Humans undergo different effects, but surely it has been around in the species since the species started using fire and the brain adapted to its use.

It's already BEEN blocked

[Anonymous Coward]

n/t

Meta news & Who farted in the echo chamber

[Anonymous Coward]

If I wanted news about other news sites, maybe I would go directly to those news sites, assuming I gave a fuck.

So what? Reddit is a business, nothing else

[Anonymous Coward]

Reddit is for profit organisation and nothing else. If some country decides they do not want American company, called Reddits, conduct business on their territory then so be it.

Re:So what? Reddit is a business, nothing else

[Anonymous Coward]

When write with no article, sound like chinaman.

Re:So what? Reddit is a business, nothing else

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure, but then besaid country must also tolerate if other countries decide to ban some of their businesses based on arbitrary rules.

I guess what counts, though, is whether a country has due process and a halfway acceptable legal system. Russia hasn't.

Re:So what? Reddit is a business, nothing else

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure, but then besaid country must also tolerate if other countries decide to ban some of their businesses based on arbitrary rules.

I guess what counts, though, is whether a country has due process and a halfway acceptable legal system. Russia hasn't.

What? You never heard how US is organized a global boycott against Russia and several other countries? Or how several countries fuck with Uber and so on and on and on?

Re:So what? Reddit is a business, nothing else

[Opportunist]

In that case the US (and quite a few other countries) should watch out. They're getting there.

Re:So what? Reddit is a business, nothing else

[Anonymous Coward]

Or how several countries fuck with Uber and so on and on and on?

That was an odd example. Most countries have clear laws regulating passenger traffic that Uber clearly violates. There is no legal difference between Uber and any other illegal/gypsy cab, even if they come with a cool app and hype.

Re:So what? Reddit is a business, nothing else

[Anonymous Coward]

Uber example is not a good one but I guess the point is that a business is a business, even if it's e-toilet-wall like Reddit. To assume that every business is welcome to every county on this rock is silly.
Reddit adds nothing to Russian economy. Actually, Reddit adds nothing useful to any economy on this planet. It's a total waste of time and bandwidth and if something like this gets banned... why do you even care?

approved discussion topics

[Black Parrot]

The Central Committee has, however, approved and recommended the following:

• How to get elected with fire bombs and terror scares.
• How to co-govern with former-KGB and organized crime.
• How to take territory back from former provinces.
• How to shoot down airliners.
• How to hate on Company of Heroes 2.

Re:approved discussion topics

[KiloByte]

How to get elected with fire bombs and terror scares.

Actually, discussing how the FSB staged bombings to boost the Dear Leader's ratings gets you polonium tea.

Re:approved discussion topics

[Black Parrot]

Yeah, I meant to include "how to assassinate critics of the regime".

Re:approved discussion topics

[umghhh]

They all are alike. Some have nicer slogans than the others and I admit I'd prefer to rot in GITMO listening to loud, shitty music than to die of polonium poisoning. Judging on my experience it works better to be an expert in a poor but not too poor country than in well developed one where your salary gets you less goods but a better chance to get replaced by cheap boyz from Zamunda. I accept them governments and their torture boyz because this is the best we can do not because I like it.

Re:approved discussion topics

[KGIII]

Seriously? Hmm... No. I will take the polonium now and happily (comparatively) live out my remaining time in a pure opiate bliss. Drug the fuck out of me and do not perform any life-saving techniques.

I will share what I feel are relevant (and rare-ish) Grateful Dead lyrics...

Hang me, oh, hang me, so I'll be dead and gone.
Hang me, oh, hang me, so I'll be dead and gone.
I wouldn't mind your hanging boys but, you wait in jail so long.
Oh Lord, I been all around this world.
                                                -- I've Been All Around This World

I worked at a detention facility and have spent a night in jail waiting to sober up so they could let me go. (I was still plenty drunk when I left). I would really rather be dead than spend my life in prison.

Re:approved discussion topics

[Anonymous Coward]

Ladies and gentlemen-- put on your tinfoil hats and let's rabble rabble rabble.

The person claiming to be responsible...

[tgv]

Has posted a Today I Fucked Up about it: https://www.reddit.com/r/tifu/...

How much of Reddit's revenue comes from Russia?

[jcr]

Seems to me that Reddit should run the numbers and tell Putin to go fuck himself.

-jcr

Re:How much of Reddit's revenue comes from Russia?

[bill_mcgonigle]

Seems to me that Reddit should run the numbers and tell Putin to go fuck himself.

Do they even have to run the numbers? Russian Redditors can probably setup up a proxy or VPN without much trouble.

This is just a death-pang of the ancient city/nation-states outliving their usefulness. We have global communications now, not men on horses carrying parchment. Their technology is obsolete; we don't want to buy it.

Silly Poster...

[SeaFox]

They should have discussed how to grow trees instead.

Always call their bluff

[Karmashock]

This censorship push only works if people cooperate with it. If they are forced to block half the internet then the entire regime fails.

Simply refuse to cooperate. Call their bluff.

So Reddit gets blocked OFFICIALLY in Russia? So what? There are lots of tools to bypass that stuff and the more that Russia employs censorship the more Russians will employ anti censorship tools. Unless Russia goes full North Korea and isolates the entire Russian internet... they're not going to be able to control it.

And frankly if they did go full north korea... why would Reddit care? Big US internet companies that have global penetration keep getting threatened by Spain or France or Russia... "do this or else"... if we didn't care if China blocked us then why would we care about Russia?

Make my fucking day, punk.

Re:Always call their bluff

[Anonymous Coward]

Russia going full North Korea on the internet could dramatically lower computer virus and botnet activity.

I'm actually surprised there isn't a lot more country level filtering of the internet by companies that only do business in a certain region/country (leaving the EU available of course, we need them for better news in the USA).

Re:Always call their bluff

[drinkypoo]

Simply refuse to cooperate. Call their bluff.

In Putin's Russia, bluff calls you

Re:Always call their bluff

[Karmashock]

Don't kid yourself, there is a lot of filtering.

We don't talk about it but... yeah. We filter everything. Does every organization do that? Not every organization is competent.

Not cannabis

[atomlib]

It's not cannabis. FSKN (Federal Drug Control Service of the Russian Federation) didn't like this post which is about shrooms https://www.reddit.com/r/rudru... At the moment it's blocked in Russia on Reddit side as far as I can see. I suspect Reddit may get unblocked very soon because of that.

Re:Not cannabis

[atomlib]

Unblocked now https://twitter.com/roscomnadz...

Re:Not cannabis

[shutdown -p now]

To clarify, Reddit introduced an IP-based block for this post, such that Russian IP addresses get 403. Consequently, RKN unblocked it.

So basically Reddit is helping Russian authorities censor.

more than that

[Max_W]

In Russia one would be heavily fined just for smoking a usual cigarette not in a special place for smoking. The same for throwing a butt on the sidewalk.

I actually like it.

Re:more than that

[Anonymous Coward]

That's how authoritarianism works: I'm alright Jack.

Littering should be a finable offence, but bins should be provided. In my country they've taken away the bins with ashtrays on top because councils thought it normalised smoking.

Typical to all left-wing behaviour, there was an "unexpected" side effect - namely more litter.

Re:more than that

[Max_W]

There are numerous models of portable ashtrays. Some of them are quite sophisticated.

Re:more than that

[Anonymous Coward]

The councils can't afford to replace those bins because of your country's right-wing government. Meanwhile that same government mandated their removal.

But yeah, if it makes you feel better to blame the local council for your trivial problems so you can score some partisan point about it, whatever.

Re:more than that

[Malc]

Do toilets at the Moscow airports count as an official smoking room? The thick fog of smoke makes it disgusting going for a slash every time I've transited through Moscow.

Re:more than that

[Max_W]

I do not know. I do not live in Russia. I've just read about fines for smoking not in the designated places for smoking and for dropping butts on the ground.

Normally in airports there should be smoking areas made from a glass panes.

At least they are making some effort to reduce smoking. It will not be fast for sure, as it is extremely difficult, almost impossible to quit smoking. Tobacco is kind of a drug too, which is extremely addictive. And a social fabric is important part of this addiction.

At the same time, smoking, including passive one, is hazardous for health. It is already almost proven beyond doubt by medica science. Besides, butts on the gtound cause fires, especially in a forest.

Re:more than that

[Anonymous Coward]

There is a fine for dropping butts on the ground almost anywhere, it is called littering.

Its just a matter of enforcement.

One way to.

[Anonymous Coward]

to block the social linking site Reddit across its country ...

In turn, Reddit can block all those Russian propaganda factories. No longer will sub-reddits be overwhelmed by 'Americans' living in Russia, praising the glorious leader.

interesting

[bekid2015]

very interesting post

Seems fair to me.

[Anonymous Coward]

After all, there's no legal difference between illegal drug dealing and illegal copyright infringement. That there is legal drug dealing is of no importance because there are legal copyright infringement too, but that isn't given any consideration wrt copyright discussions.

Talking about how to grow your own drugs and talking about where to get a copy of a movie are both equally illegal. Actually, on second thoughts, that's incorrect. The former IS illegal, whereas the second is not except by some weird "enabling" legal idiocy that makes talking about something that may be illegal illegal, but only if someone rich thinks its bad.

So, yeah, I see no problem here.

So... just to to make sure:

[cpt_koloth]

A country that censors the internet is (justifiably) condemned...
A company that allows (heck even encourages) providing info on growing psychotropic drugs is exonerated because we do not like internet censorship?
Last time i checked a country has the right to protect its youth from drugs...

Re:So... just to to make sure:

[Zero__Kelvin]

"Last time i checked a country has the right to protect its youth from drugs..."

I don't know where, or when you checked, but you better re-check. You are completely confused if you think that. There is this twisted and pervasive idea that if 51% of the population votes that my kid should have to do or refrain from doing something that I should have to comply. You can "protect" your kids from drugs, but don't lie to yourself and think you have a say regarding mine. I'll handle the raising of my own children, thank you very much.

Re:So... just to to make sure:

[gerddie]

Last time i checked a country has the right to protect its youth from drugs...

If protect its youth from drugs translates to prohibit these drugs for everybody then there is something wrong, especially when considering that a legal drugs like alcohol and tobacco are way more damaging than Canabis.

Re:So... just to to make sure:

[Opportunist]

Sonny, I really enjoy that you consider me "youth", but frankly, as soon as you don't get asked for ID anymore when buying liquor, you're no longer "youth".

So please stop protecting me, ok?

Re:So... just to to make sure:

[dunkelfalke]

Do you really want the hassle of ID access for many websites?

Re:So... just to to make sure:

[Anonymous Coward]

Hello to the Russian Troll Factory! How's biz, boys?

Re:So... just to to make sure:

[cpt_koloth]

Last time i checked a country has the right to protect its youth from drugs...

If protect its youth from drugs translates to prohibit these drugs for everybody then there is something wrong, especially when considering that a legal drugs like alcohol and tobacco are way more damaging than Canabis.

So instead of making addictive substabces like alcohol and tobacco illegal we should legalise Canabis?
You can take a look at the Netherlands where legalizing the stuff actually increased usage.
Drugs etc has long been used by the system to "neutralize" it's citizens...
Here is Greece (and i'm assuming it is not a greek trend) they are even organizing drug-festivals to push for legalization.

Re:So... just to to make sure:

[Opportunist]

No. Your webpage wants to ID me to access it. Ok.

NEXT!

Re:So... just to to make sure:

[umghhh]

That works only until the judge finds out that damage that your activities cause weight more than the benefits of your company as a parent.
That works everywhere in the West. It also has its side effects - when one party accuses the other of something unthinkable and gets benefits from the judge or authority that deals with kids welfare. Seen that happening to parents. Kids get most hit but parents suffer there too. Sometimes it works of course and drug abusing sex offenders may be prohibited from abusing their children.

Re:So... just to to make sure:

[dunkelfalke]

My point is, you want "them to stop protecting you" because you are an adult. But how else they know that than by asking for an ID?

Re:So... just to to make sure:

[Anonymous Coward]

Reddit: where telling people exactly how to do something that is illegal pretty much everywhere in the world is encouraged because censorship is bad, but a subreddit with 20,000 subscribers that is fully compliant with US law and Reddit rules gets banned because its very existence makes some people uncomfortable.

Reddit is done.

Re:So... just to to make sure:

[Anonymous Coward]

You can take a look at the Netherlands where legalizing the stuff actually increased usage.

Haha! Citation needed. Every study I've ever looked at for probably the past decade has indicated that legalization had no significant impact on usage (in some cases usage actually declined a bit). If you're gonna try and claim otherwise, you'd better have some sources to back it up.

Re:So... just to to make sure:

[Zero__Kelvin]

"That works only until the judge finds out t ..."

I concede your point that the world is full of self-righteous scumbags who hide behind a veil of common ignorance while wearing silly robes.

Re:So... just to to make sure:

[Opportunist]

By default. If I was a minor, my parents would have had the duty to ensure I cannot access a page I am not supposed to access.

Don't shift the burden of raising your kids on society. It's YOUR job. Not mine.

Re:So... just to to make sure:

[dunkelfalke]

Unfortunately the entry barrier to parenthood is very low (and in fact, even lower for the stupid) and there are no technical solutions to bad parents so either we only allow intelligent and responsible people to breed or, as a society, we'll have to accept a part of this burden.

Re:So... just to to make sure:

[Opportunist]

Sorry, but no. I am in no way willing to surrender my freedoms because OTHERS cannot be bothered to take care of their offspring. So your kids will read how to grow weed, this is YOUR problem. Not mine. And if you do not want them to do so, it is YOUR duty to block those pages. Not mine.

Re:So... just to to make sure:

[dunkelfalke]

We'll talk when you get older and assaulted and robbed by the very same low-life kids you've insisted only they parents should raise, not the society as well.
If children are abandoned, they grow up criminals.

They Should Block Facebook Over Homophilia

[Anonymous Coward]

They should block Facebook over sick homophilia everywhere.

Oh what glorious news

[Opportunist]

Finally no more RT shills telling us about the wonders and joys of living in the greatest nation of the planet, under the beloved glorious Leader Wowa?

Oh, Russia

[Artem S. Tashkinov]

It has already been blocked: http://reestr.rublacklist.net/... - welcome to Russia.

Most sane people who value privacy and freedom in Russia use TOR or VPN, because far too many websites are blocked while they contain a single "infringing" document. Unfortunately when we're talking about HTTPS the only way to block the infringing document is to take down the whole website.

Why?

[MagickalMyst]

Because growing plants is such a big threat to national security.

Sheesh.

Re:Why?

[KGIII]

I am told, by my daughter no less, that my tomato plants are "the bomb." (These may not be actual tomato plants and I am not a huge fan of tomatoes so I will leave that up to you to decide. I do have a lovely garden and it does contain real tomatoes.) So, if my tomato plants are the bomb then I must be a terrorist and, of course, a threat to national security. It is only logical, after all.

Oh, *real* cannabis

[Anonymous Coward]

For a moment there I thought "cannabis" was some new open-source networking communication's protocol or sharing app the kids had just come up with (similar to "twitter", "spotify" or "Tor") and that the Russian government didn't like people on Reddit using it to communicate with each other about stuff. But this is about discussing marijuana within Reddit. It's so hard to keep with all the new stuff.

GOOD.

[Anonymous Coward]

Good.

"Reddit isn't a bastion of free speech" anyway. This is completely fitting for them to comply with.

It's reasonable to ban American drug addicts...

[Anonymous Coward]

Why shouldn't countries make it difficult for crackheads to share information on peddling drugs? Good for Russia for banning that shite. If Americans want to make meth, let them do so in their own country, but don't spread that filth across the world. We already have enough of American culture to worry about: drones, terrorists, wars, resource theft. Last thing we need from America is knowledge on how to produce drugs.

No body actually read about it?

[ouachiski]

The post in question had nothing to do with cannabis. It was about indoor growing of Magic Mushrooms.

Re:No body actually read about it?

[Fire_Wraith]

This is Slashdot, you expected anyone to actually RTFA? :)

Re:No body actually read about it?

[gestalt_n_pepper]

So, growing them outdoors is perfectly OK, then, eh?

Bye...

[buckfeta2014]

... Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out. And don't think of coming back, we don't give a shit if you create your own internet.

Uuum WHO CARES! Let them block it!

[rholtzjr]

I guess they will try anything to get focus away from the Ukraine and MH17 (pay no attention to the psychopath behind the surface to air missile system, but look over here at the evil plant you are trying to grow).
Well dang, I am thinking that giving them the knowledge would allow them to mellow out a bit and let them wake up from their vodka induced stupor so they do not again mistake a very large passenger plane for their own Russian-built fighter jet.

Drugs are bad mmmkay...but jail is worse....

[Anonymous Coward]

When drugs are bad, factually educate people on why. One thing I know for sure is prison and jail are bad for people. How ever bad you think pot might be, prison and jail will fuck that person up more.

If various drugs are illegal to protect people from said drugs, for gods sake, protect the people, don't incarcerate them and ruin their lives more than the drugs might.

Funny thing about REDDIT

[Anonymous Coward]

Outside of someones chosen hangout and forum on REDDIT, 99.99999999999% of the world does not care about that forum and life goes on oblivious to what is happening in those forums. I don't understand how people with such strong feeling about topics get off on spewing their feelings in a sub forum on a website in anonymous fashion. How many of those people would instead of typing in a forum for an hour, go stand on their street corner for an hour with a sign with their message on it? If you TRULY have those strong feelings and want to change the world and get your message out and discuss your topic with people, wouldn't that be effective? They don't want to be effective, they just want to be a cool person in a sub group. Take their presence with a grain of salt.

Re:Uuum WHO CARES! Let them block it!

[iggymanz]

The USA's CIA helped overthrow the legitimate government of Ukraine to put in the present one, and you somehow think Russia is the cause of problems in the region?

Cannabis is not a narcotic.

[Anonymous Coward]

... had posted an article about growing narcotic plants.

Pharmacologically, cannabis is not a narcotic, no matter how bad the regulators want it to be. Though that has never stopped them from defining and regulating it as such.

This may actually improve anonymity systems

[Anonymous Coward]

In order to be anonymous you need a crowd to blend into. If you add a bunch of reddit users to the list of drug sellers and buyers using anonymity systems it becomes much harder to pin-point what someone you know is using the anonymity system is doing. The same thing is true for blocking copyright content. If more people are forced into using the anonymity system it becomes more difficult to guess at who is doing more risky stuff based on just there network traffic use and spikes (like publishing a video of a protest would most likely look the same as illegally uploading copyright'd content). Without this anonymity set you can more easily take an educated guess that a user uploading large files is doing x,y, or z. Maybe all of which are illegal. If so the government can just bust down the door. If not then they'd have too many doors to bust down thus making it much more difficult to pin-point.

Just ban Reddit.. everywhere.

[Anonymous Coward]

One of the most useless pieces of garbage on the Internet, next to crap like 4chan. Serves no useful purpose, is just a honeypot for trolls, sociopaths, and other social outcasts. Junk it.

COLORADO!!

[SlydogSZ]

But it is legal here in Colorado... I know you all know that but it feels good to brag about it.

Re:COLORADO!!

[frovingslosh]

That's funny because I thought Colorado was still in the U.S. where it is illegal and you were only getting away with it because we have a president who refuses to enforce the laws of the United States.

Re:COLORADO!!

[shutdown -p now]

Can you coherently explain why, when they wanted to ban alcohol consumption on federal level, that took a Constitutional amendment; but when they wanted to ban other substances, somehow, magically, it's just a simple law?

Where exactly in the Constitution does it grant Congress the authority to regulate the growth and consumption of drugs (or anything else) that doesn't cross the state boundary?

Re:COLORADO!!

[frovingslosh]

What does the Constitution have to do with anything? The Constitution is no longer in effect in America.

Re:COLORADO!!

[Anonymous Coward]

It is illegal, it is Islamic law, so the law is illegal because it pulls in Islam principle of law and Islam conquered the world thus. Cannabis is not a narcotic (sleep), it is a stupefacient (stupor), the correct classification according to who knows what researchers several decades ago (no references). It is actually the reason why we traded with India 2000 years (Bible) and why Europe set to explore the whole planet and find a shorter way to India (to avoid caravans, probably gone fanatic against). It does seem to have very different effects on Africans and on Humans so it is Africans (and Arabs) who go into stupor while Humans undergo different effects, but surely it has been around in the species since the species started using fire and the brain adapted to its use.

Re:COLORADO!!

[frovingslosh]

Boy, easy to see that you are a user.

Re:Uuum WHO CARES! Let them block it!

[Anonymous Coward]

This is marketing, to let American's know that the thread exists, and screw with the war on drugs. Nobody reads Reddit in Russia.

compromised

[Anonymous Coward]

reddit only has themselves to blame. block one /r/ and you've compromised the validity of not blocking any /r/

They still call cannabis a narcotic ?

[ToddInSF]

When is the medical community going to grow some balls and start having a little integrity ?