Russian authorities have reportedly blocked access to Twitch and other sites in the latest of a series of governmental attacks on companies owned by Google and Amazon. The ban is a direct result of further sanctions against companies associated with encrypted messaging service Telegram. The conflict between the messaging service and the Russian government has arisen in the wake of Telegram's refusal to provide users' encrypted messages to Russian security services in the face of attempted enforcement by watchdog group Roskomnadzor.

Twitch, which is owned by Amazon, is one of the sites affected by the ban with users across Russia taking to Twitter to complain about the outage. These new restrictions are widespread and are affecting many innocent users but they are designed to target citizens who may be using Telegram to spread anti-government information and ideas. Previously CEO of Telegram, Pavel Durov, has thanked Amazon, Google, and others for not participating in censorship, which is why they have been targeted in these latest events.

Specific addresses were attacked and Twitch affiliate streamer Angry Roleplayer, claims that at least 20 million IP's and IP gates have been blocked so far. According to Reuters, in a statement made by the Head of Roskomnadzor, Alexander Zharov, the group "have currently informed both companies that a significant number of IP addresses located in the clouds of these two services have fallen under the block on the basis of the court ruling (to block Telegram)”. Angry Roleplayer has released a video detailing what has happened as well as what users in Russia are faced with when they try to access their accounts.

The Russian government and their security services remain largely tight lipped on the issue of internet censorship and it is currently unclear whether further restrictions are to come. With the increased tensions between Russia and the West, following the conflict in Syria, restrictions on internet usage have become a staging post in a wider political landscape. Twitch is yet to comment on the situation either and, although there are many complaining of the service being inaccessible, there are at least some tweeting that they are still able to use their streams perfectly.

With neither side seemingly prepared to openly discuss the issue it may be a while before it is possible to understand the extent of the problem, as well as when it may be resolved. Russian government and security services are notoriously slow to negotiate and it will likely be some time before Twitch users in Russia will be allowed to operate unfettered.

Source: Polygon