RUSSIA BANS LINKEDIN SOCIAL NETWORK

Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia has banned LinkedIn, the Financial Times reports.

Russia's communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, has reportedly added the social network to a blacklist of websites.

As a result, internet service providers in Russia will have to start blocking access to the website, which allows people to find jobs and create an online CV.

Legislation was enforced in Russia in 2014 that made it mandatory for internet companies to store Russian users' personal data on servers in Russia.

A Moscow court ruled last week that LinkedIn was not complying with the country's data laws. The court ruling reportedly "paves the way" for the site to be banned across Russia.

Roskomnadzor and LinkedIn have reportedly refused to discuss the matter with each other.

More than 6 million people in Russia are registered LinkedIn users, according to Reuters. It is the first major social network to be blocked in Russia, and the move could set a precedent for the way US tech giants operate in the country.

Silicon Valley firms like Google and Apple do store Russian users' data on servers in Russia, but companies like Facebook and Twitter are yet to comply with the country's data laws, despite repeated threats of a ban.

Roskomnadzor has blocked numerous other sites in Russia. Wikipedia was banned last year for several days after it featured an article on cannabis smoking, for example. The pornography websites YouPorn and PornHub were also blocked by Roskomnadzor in September.

A LinkedIn representative told Business Insider: "LinkedIn's vision is to create economic opportunity for the entire global workforce. We are starting to hear from members in Russia that they can no longer access LinkedIn.

"Roskomnadzor's action to block LinkedIn denies access to the millions of members we have in Russia and the companies that use LinkedIn to grow their businesses. We remain interested in a meeting with Roskomnadzor to discuss their data localization request."

Vadim Ampelonskiy, the press secretary of Roscomnadzor, told Business Insider: "LinkedIn has been banned today after a court decision. They violate Russian law not storing personal data of Russian citizens within Russia."

Business Insider