OOO FLAVUS AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA JUDGMENT content. Roskomnadzor requires Internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to the website and web hosting service providers to take down illegal content. Roskomnadzor’s notification must specify the website’s domain name, network address and the URL of the webpages permitting illegal content to be identified (subsection (2)). Within twenty-four hours of receiving the notification, the web hosting service provider must request the website owner to remove the illegal content (subsection (4)). After the website owner has notified Roskomnadzor that the content has been removed, Roskomnadzor verifies that the material has been removed and informs ISPs that access to the website may be restored (subsection (6)). RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL MATERIAL 13. The Declaration on freedom of communication on the Internet, adopted by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers on 28 May 2003, took note of the Member States’ commitment to abide by the following principles in the field of communication on the Internet: Principle 3: Absence of prior state control “Public authorities should not, through general blocking or filtering measures, deny access by the public to information and other communication on the Internet, regardless of frontiers. This does not prevent the installation of filters for the protection of minors, in particular in places accessible to them, such as schools or libraries. Provided that the safeguards of Article 10, paragraph 2, of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms are respected, measures may be taken to enforce the removal of clearly identifiable Internet content or, alternatively, the blockage of access to it, if the competent national authorities have taken a provisional or final decision on its illegality.” 14. The 2011 Report of the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression (A/HRC/17/27) expressed concerns about the excessive scope of blocking measures: “29. Blocking refers to measures taken to prevent certain content from reaching an end user. This includes preventing users from accessing specific websites, Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, domain name extensions, the taking down of websites from the web server where they are hosted, or using filtering technologies to exclude pages containing keywords or other specific content from appearing ... 31. States’ use of blocking or filtering technologies is frequently in violation of their obligation to guarantee the right to freedom of expression ... Firstly, the specific conditions that justify blocking are not established in law, or are provided by law but in an overly broad and vague manner, which risks content being blocked arbitrarily and excessively. Secondly, blocking is not justified to pursue aims which are listed under article 19, paragraph 3, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and blocking lists are generally kept secret, which makes it difficult to assess whether access to content is being restricted for a legitimate purpose. Thirdly, even 4