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    PAP to be the first press agency banned by Russia

    The Russian prosecution general has blocked access to the Polish Press Agency (PAP) portal along with other 22 websites, according to Roskomsvoboda, an organisation monitoring sites blocked by Russian authorities.

    The decision has been taken as part of wartime censorship imposed by the Kremlin.

    According to Roskomsvoboda, whose activities are aimed at countering Internet censorship, Russia has already blocked access to over 5,400 websites.

    The sites are being blocked by Roskomnadzor, or the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, on the motion of the prosecution general.

    Other portals and sites blocked by Russia include independent mass media operating both in Russia and abroad, human rights organisations, political parties and social activists. Russia has also blocked access to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

    As part of its PAP.PL portal, PAP launched a special Russian-language service in January. Shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, PAP launched a Ukrainian-language service for Ukrainian refugees in Poland.

    In late February, PAP President Wojciech Surmacz said TASS should be expelled from the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) and called for an active struggle against Russian disinformation.

    TASS was suspended as a member of the EANA on February 27.

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