Russia blocked access to LinkedIn last week, and as Microsoft tries to resolve problems with recent services purchases, United States officials have taken a stand with the Redmond software giant.
Maria Olson, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, expressed public concerns that the ban could set off a dangerous chain of events in Russia, as the country could then move on to blocking other services. This could only hurt competition and local users, Reuters reports.
"The United States is deeply concerned about Russia's decision to block access to the LinkedIn website," said Maria Olson. "This decision is the first of its kind and raises concerns. It could be used to justify the closure of any website containing Russian user data.".
On the other hand, Russia says the LinkedIn ban can be lifted if the service complies with regulations and moves Russian users' data to servers located within the country's borders.
Russian Communications Minister Nikolai Nikiforov said in a statement that the decision to block LinkedIn was made by the courts, not the country itself. “We hope that constructive dialogue can resolve the situation,” he said. “All foreign companies must act in accordance with the law, and there are many who have no problem respecting the law.”.
On the other hand, LinkedIn is indeed interested in lifting restrictions on its service and the company wants to meet with Russian officials to address the issue. LinkedIn said that a meeting was scheduled for November 11 with Russia but for some reason that did not happen.
LinkedIn currently has 6 million users in Russia, and anyone attempting to connect to the service these days is presented with a message saying "access to the resource you requested is restricted.".
