THIRD SECTION
CASE OF VLADIMIR KHARITONOV v. RUSSIA
(Application no. 10795/14)
JUDGMENT
Article 10 • Freedom to receive and impart information • Website blocked as
automatic consequence of blocking order against another with same IP address •
Wholesale blocking of access to an entire website being an extreme measure
comparable to banning a newspaper or television station • Manner of
implementation of blocking order having practical effect of extending its scope on
co-hosted websites and thus far beyond illegal content originally targeted •
Domestic law lacking foreseeability and safeguards against excessive and arbitrary
effects of blocking measures • Extensive latitude conferred on the Russian
telecoms regulator (Roskomnadzor) • No legal requirement to conduct an
assessment of impact and potential collateral effects of a blocking measure prior to
its implementation • Blocking measures not sanctioned by court or other
independent adjudicatory body • No provision for third-party notification of
blocking decisions and no access to decision • Domestic courts’s failure to perform
a Convention-compliant review weighing up various interests at stake
Article 13 in conjunction with Article 10 • Effective remedy • Failure of courts to
consider the substance of grievance or to examine lawfulness or proportionality of
effects of blocking order
STRASBOURG
23 June 2020
FINAL
16/11/2020
This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be
subject to editorial revision.