Minister says Russia not currently planning to block Wikipedia

Russian Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev assured reporters on Tuesday that there were currently no plans to block Wikipedia.

"We are not blocking Wikipedia yet, there are no such plans," the official said, taking a TASS reporter’s question.

According to Shadayev, Znanie (Knowledge), a portal analogous to Wikipedia, is currently being developed in Russia.

A magistrate judge in Moscow ruled on April 18 to slap a fine of 800,000 rubles ($9,800) on Wikimedia Foundation, the owner of the Russian-language Wikipedia, over failure to delete a video on train hitching. And on April 13, a court fined the non-profit organization for its refusal to erase an article about fighting as part of Russia’s special op and the referendum on the Zaporozhye Region’s accession to Russia. Wikimedia Foundation was already fined two times earlier this year.