Mozilla has reinstated certain add-ons for Firefox that earlier this week had been banned in Russia by the Kremlin.
The browser extensions, which are hosted on the Mozilla store, were made unavailable in the Land of Putin on or around June 8 after a request by the Russian government and its internet censorship agency, Roskomnadzor.
Among those extensions were three pieces of code that were explicitly designed to circumvent state censorship – including a VPN and Censor Tracker, a multi-purpose add-on that allowed users to see what websites shared user data, and a tool to access Tor websites.
The day the ban went into effect, Roskomsvoboda – the developer of Censor Tracker – took to the official Mozilla forums and asked why his extension was suddenly banned in Russia with no warning.
“We recently noticed that our add-on is now unavailable in Russia, despite being developed specifically to circumvent censorship in Russia,” dev zombbo complained. “We did not violate Mozilla’s rules in any way, so this decision seems strange and unfair, to be honest.”
Another developer for a banned add-on chimed in that they weren’t informed either.
The internet org’s statement at the time mentioned the ban was merely temporary. It turns out wasn’t mere PR fluff, as Mozilla tells The Register that the ban has now been lifted.
“In alignment with our commitment to an open and accessible internet, Mozilla will reinstate previously restricted listings in Russia,” the group declared. "Our initial decision to temporarily restrict these listings was made while we considered the regulatory environment in Russia and the potential risk to our community and staff.
“We remain committed to supporting our users in Russia and worldwide and will continue to advocate for an open and accessible internet for all.”
Lifting the ban wasn’t completely necessary for users to regain access to the add-ons – two of them were completely open source, and one of the VPN extensions could be downloaded from the developer’s website.
Special plugin operation.
I love how the developer’s name is “roskomSVOBODA” (svoboda means something like freedom) in contrast to the name of the censorship agency “roskomNADZOR” (supervision).
Forgive me if i got it wrong. My russian is terrible
Heh, I wonder how the ml tankies are spinning this one and what browser they’re going to use instead of Nazifox or whatever stupid name they’re using for it now.
If not for an occasional comment like yours - I would never remember I’ve defederated them. Thanks!
@Weslee@lemmy.world has already answered, but in general - you can see [de]federated instances at an <instance url>/instances. In my case that would be lemmy.cafe/instances
Tankies are pro authoritarian. I believe their name comes from celebrating China sending tanks to tianmen square.
They pretend to be lefties though.
That’s why they would shit on Firefox, because they’re Pro Putin.
Minor correction, although it changes nothing about your point:
tankie actually refers to people who defended the crushing of Hungarian and Czechoslovakian revolts by Soviet military personnel, who went as far as sending tanks in to quell civil unrest.
The term was originally coined in the UK and was an insult to British Communist Party followers who would slavishly follow the Kremlin line.
Of course, the term has now evolved to mean someone from the west who seems to dislike the west and praises Russia and China, despite them also being Capitalist countries now, and generally being more into imperialism.
I believe their name comes from celebrating China sending tanks to tianmen square.
AFAIK that name was created before tianmen.
because they’re Pro Putin.
Wouldn’t that make them just autocracy fans, not tankies?
Why the fuck should any government decide what software you can run? Especially free software. How threatened or insecure must they be? What a true show of cowardice.
you can expect some USA whataboutism regarding tiktok or wardialing or wardriving etc.
well just upped my firefox donation :)
for those curious you can always make an additional one time donation in addition to your monthly one
