The New York Times has revealed in a recent report that Russia has apparently started acting on the legislation - the censorship act - which it passed in November last year to censor the Internet within the country.

Joining China, Iran and other countries which selectively block that content which they deem illegal or harmful inside their borders, the Russian government has ordered the removal of certain content by popular social networking and entertainment sites, like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

The Russian regulators have asked Facebook to take down a page which they felt was promoting suicide; while Twitter was asked to block local access to certain posts. Both the companies have decided to comply with the requests of the Russian regulators, with Facebook acknowledging that the page which it was asked to remove was not in the interest of general public health.

Meanwhile, Google's YouTube video-sharing site - which was asked to remove one particular video that was considered suicidal as it apparently promoted suicide - has decided to oppose Russia's censorship legislation; with Google having filed a lawsuit in a Russian court in February.

In its refusal to take down the in-question video, Google has put forth the argument that the video is essentially an entertainment piece as it merely shows how a fake wound can be created with some make-up materials and a razor blade.