OOO FLAVUS AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA JUDGMENT 27. The European Information Society Institute, a Slovakia-based non-profit organisation focusing on high-technology law, submitted that any blocking measure which went beyond its target and over-blocked legitimate content, was not acceptable in a democratic society. The authorities had a duty to carry out an individualised assessment of whether the same result could be achieved with a less intrusive measure. The targeted website should be informed and given a reasonable amount of time to remove the offending content and to make submissions before a decision was taken. 2. The Court’s assessment (a) General principles 28. The Court reiterates that owing to its accessibility and capacity to store and communicate vast amounts of information, the Internet has now become one of the principal means by which individuals exercise their right to freedom of expression and information. The Internet provides essential tools for participation in activities and discussions concerning political issues and issues of general interest, it enhances the public’s access to news and facilitates the dissemination of information in general. Article 10 of the Convention guarantees “everyone” the freedom to receive and impart information and ideas. It applies not only to the content of information but also to the means of its dissemination, for any restriction imposed on the latter necessarily interferes with that freedom (see Ahmet Yıldırım v. Turkey, no. 3111/10, §§ 48-54, ECHR 2012). (b) Existence of interference 29. The applicants are owners of online media outlets which published articles, opinion pieces and research by opposition politicians, journalists and experts, many of which were critical of the Russian Government. On 14 March 2014, the telecoms regulator, Roskomnadzor, blocked access to their websites after the Prosecutor General had identified a portion of the content as being illegal. The Court reiterates that measures blocking access to websites are bound to have an influence on the accessibility of the Internet and, accordingly, engage the responsibility of the respondent State under Article 10 (see Ahmet Yıldırım, cited above, § 53). The measure which prevented visitors to the applicants’ websites from accessing their content amounted to “interference by a public authority” with the right to receive and impart information, since Article 10 guarantees not only the right to impart information but also the right of the public to receive it (see Ahmet Yıldırım, cited above, §§ 51 and 55, and Cengiz and Others v. Turkey, nos. 48226/10 and 14027/11, § 56, ECHR 2015 (extracts)). The Court reiterates that interference will constitute a breach of Article 10 unless it is “prescribed by law”, pursues one or more of the legitimate aims referred to in Article 10 § 2 and is “necessary in a democratic society” to 10