Moldova cracks down on Russian website network ahead of EU referendum and elections

On October 3, Moldova’s Information and Security Service blacklisted five websites, including Russian Yandex, Rutube, and Dzen. 

Russian Yandex, Rutube, and Dzen banned in Moldova

Two websites for the MD24 Internet TV channel, owned by oligarch Ilan Shor, were also banned. This was reported by several Moldovan media outlets. The sites were restricted per the directives of the Information and Security Service (SIS).

The SIS ordered Internet service providers to prohibit Russian video hosting platform Rutube (rutube.ru) and social platform Zen (yandex.ru and dzen.ru).

In addition, Moldovan law enforcement agents ordered the banning of two MD24 Internet TV channel websites (moldova24.online and pwa.moldova24.online), which are linked to fugitive pro-Russian oligarch Ilan Shor.

In September, Moldova banned six Russian propaganda websites

In September, Moldova prohibited seven more websites prior to the presidential election, at the request of the Information and Security Service, including six Russian propaganda websites and one Moldovan.

The blacklist includes Russia’s news agency, RIA Novosti, also under EU sanctions. The SIS said that these websites pose “national security risks” to Moldova. It ordered Moldovan web communications providers to block access to five Russian websites: Ng.ru, Gazetacrimea.ru, Crimea.gov.ru, Crimea.ria.ru, Crimea24tv.ru, and Ria.ru.

Using Moldovan VPN, InsightNews discovered that the “blocked” Russian propaganda websites remained accessible. It is likely that the Moldovan authorities’ approach, DNS blockage, is unproductive.

SIS ordered the blocking of Nuacum.eu, a website that represents the Nu. Nu Acum (No. Not Now) movement, Radio Liberty reported. This website has urged Moldovans to vote against joining the European Union in a referendum planned for next month, claiming that the move is too early.

On October 20, Moldova holds EU referendum and presidential elections

Moldova’s pro-Western president, Maia Sandu, who is running for reelection on October 20, has proposed conducting the EU referendum alongside the presidential election.

Moldova, where Russia maintained substantial influence after the former Soviet country gained independence, has shifted its stance towards the West under Sandu, who replaced Moscow-backed incumbent Igor Dodon in November 2020.

After Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and an all-out war, Moldova aligned itself with the West and condemned Moscow’s war aggression.

Moldova received an invitation to join the EU in 2022, and membership negotiations began with the European Union in June.

US and UK warned of Russia’s planes to influence vote in Moldova

In June, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom published a joint statement warning of Russia’s plans to influence the presidential election in Moldova. Later, the US State Department issued a warning about Russia’s attempts to influence the election.

Before this year’s municipal elections, the SIS ordered the shutdown of dozens of websites that it claimed posed a “danger” to Moldova’s media environment.

The Moldovan parliament passed legislation earlier this year establishing organizations with the authority to ban access to “criminal sites,” mainly the Foreign Ministry and the SIS.