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Mozilla Firefox Blocks Add-Ons to Circumvent Russia Censorship

At Russia’s request, Firefox web browser maker Mozilla blocked add-ons that are designed to circumvent internet censorship.

“It’s a kind of unpleasant surprise because we thought the values of this corporation were very clear in terms of access to information.” Stanislav Shakirov, the chief technical officer of Roskomsvoboda, a Russian open internet group, said he hoped it was a rash decision by Mozilla that will be more carefully examined. Developers of digital tools designed to get around censorship began noticing recently that their Firefox add-ons were no longer available in Russia. Roskomnadzor is responsible for “control and supervision in telecommunications, information technology, and mass communications,” according to the Russia’s federal censorship agency’s English-language page.

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