Roskomnadzor has added links to fifteen popular creators across Twitch, Telegram and Kick to its Unified Banned Knowledge Register. Notable names mentioned include singer Yegor Creed, rapper Yuri Khovansky, and bloggers Hussein Gasanov and Nikolai Lebedev (Nekoglai).
“The sources of broadcasters on Twitch, Telegram, and Kick have been included in the list of banned sites. Requests were issued to restrict access to these platforms and their accounts within Russia,” noted expert Ekaterina Mizulina, head of the Safe Internet League.
According to Mizulina, the Federal Tax Service is coordinating a set of monitoring and analytical steps to identify potential breaches of tax laws connected to these activities.
“I appreciate Roskomnadzor and the Federal Tax Service for their ongoing effort to clean up the information space from illegal casino advertisements,” Mizulina Jr. commented on Telegram.
Roskomnadzor’s press service confirmed to TASS that the registry now includes materials tied to fifteen bloggers, though on only one platform — Twitch.
“Following the Federal Tax Service’s decisions, Roskomnadzor entered into the Unified Registry of Prohibited Information fifteen items related to organizing and broadcasting gambling and lotteries on Twitch. Roskomnadzor has requested the platform owner to remove the prohibited materials,” the agency added, noting that details of the violations have already been referred to the Investigative Committee of Russia.
What are bloggers accused of?
Earlier, the Safe Internet League filed an appeal with Roskomnadzor and the Federal Tax Service regarding the illegal promotion of online casinos and bookmakers.
The organization argues that some bloggers created Telegram channels specifically to move their audiences away from their main social accounts. Each blogger reportedly uses a unique referral link and earns half of the money lost by a subscriber for every click.
Advertising is described as being backed by “psychological tricks,” according to the League. The group emphasizes that, under the federal law governing gambling—State Regulation on the Regulation and Enforcement of Gambling—such online activities are prohibited.
Who is on the list?
The full blacklist of bloggers includes the following handles:
– GENELQW (Victor Nigrini);
— INDIAN0CH (Oleg Gorbenko);
– KYIVSTONER (Albert Vasiliev);
— RXNEXUS (Igor Lysakovsky);
– FOLLOWERS (Ilnur Khafizov);
– VERSUTA (Aren Zurabyan);
– N3KOGLAI (Nikolai Lebedev);
– ZUBAREFFF (Alexander Zubarev);
– A1TAODA (Igor Saiganov);
– FARBIZZBAT9 (Kirill and Alexander Volynkin);
-GUSEINNEWS (Hussein Hasanov);
— MELLSTROY (Andrey Burim);
– KHOVANSKYTODAY (Yuri Khovansky);
– EGORKREED (Egor Creed).
In a conversation with the publisher of socialbites.ca, Igor “Nexus” Lysakovsky expressed confidence that blacklisting would not derail his activities.
“I haven’t advertised the casino for three weeks, and I’m not sure why I ended up on the list. I simply stream games on Twitch, and I can’t imagine my channel being blocked across Russia, especially if the whole platform were banned,” Nexus remarked. He added that the listing might have been made accidentally, especially since he had not been actively promoting the casino for a while.
Previously, the Safe Internet League expanded its list of publishers engaging in illegal online casino advertising on April 10. Later, participants such as Dasha Koreika, Edward Beal, Svetlana Sollar, and Vadim Artemov were mentioned as having been involved. Mizulina indicated that some individuals shifted sites or attempted to obscure the advertisement’s presence.