Police Shuts Down History Website

Jul. 9th, 2009 at 3:37 PM

The St. Petersburg police ordered the hoster to shut down history web site hrono.info because of finding there the text of Adolph Hitler’s books “Mein Kampf.” Notably, the police did not care to obtain a court order or even institute formal criminal or administrative proceedings; they simply directed the hoster to close the site referring to possible license suspension and criminal liability for complicity in “extremist activity.” The hoster complied.[1]

“Chronos” is the most popular history web site in Russia (10,000 visitors per day). It contains about 30,000 text files relating to world history. It mirror versions occupied three domains: hrono.info, hrono.ru and hronos.km.ru. The police closed only the first one; the other two had apparently passed undetected. However, the owners removed the book from the mirror sites.

“Extremist activity” (including “stirring up social, racial, national, or religious hostility”) is illegal in Russia and may lead to criminal and other liability.[2] The works of German Nazi and Italian Fascist leaders are “extremist materials” by definition.[3]

Police order, from here: