The Russian media censorship agency boasts that Steam has removed 'over 26 materials containing illegal contents' from its Russian store.

Russian media agency Interfax (via The Moscow Times) reports that Steam has complied with a request from Roskomnadzor--Russia's media regulator--to remove "all materials forbidden in the Russian Federation."

The Moscow Times reports that Steam has around 9.5 millions users in Russia. (And all of them got angry at me when I played Counter-Strike). The Russian state is no doubt paying close attention to Steam because of its growing interest in clamping-down on western tech, and developing a national "digital sovereignty" for the country.

Roskomnadzor informed Russian media that Steam had complied with the requirements of the law regarding the removal prohibited information. "Links to eleven internet pages, previously included on the Registry [of prohibited information], will be removed from it" last week. Steam has removed "over 26 materials that contain illegal content" from Russia, according to the regulator.

The question is of course: What materials were they? Valve and Roskomnadzor have both kept quiet about the matter. The former has only described them as "forbidden material" while Valve has said nothing. I've contacted Valve and Roskomnadzor for more information on the blocked materials, the form Roskomnadzor requested to remove them, and if Steam could have refused the request. I will update this article if I receive a response.

The general tone of the registry can give us some clues as to what was probably banned. The registry is used to ban anything that goes against the ultra-conservative values of the Russian government (information on drugs, queer lifestyles and so on). It's also used to falsely justify the shutdown of communication methods that the government cannot control, such as last week's Discord banning.

It's possible that Steam's materials in Russia violated one or more of these lines. I'll update you if either organisation contacts me to tell me otherwise.

This isn't our only Russia/Steam article this year. In March, we reported on Putin's quixotic order to the government that it should look into creating its Steam. Steam Deck. SteamOS. Digital sovereignty extends to videogames as well.