News

Yesterday, we were put in a position no community should have to face. The Russian government contacted us and demanded that four LGBTQ+ projects on Modrinth be removed immediately. If we did not comply, the entire site would have been blocked for everyone in Russia.

We had only that day to make a decision. The entire Modrinth team spent over 5 hours together weighing the options collectively. None of them were good:

• Restrict all content on Modrinth for over a million Russian users
• Directly impact creators’ livelihoods, either Russian creators themselves or those whose work is widely played by Russian users
• Comply with censorship requests that go directly against our values and beliefs

Money did not factor into our decision. It costs Modrinth hundreds of dollars a month in bandwidth cost alone to serve content to Russian users while we do not make ad revenue from them.

Ad revenue from Russian users for the month of September.

In the end, we told ourselves we were choosing the path of “harm reduction.” We believed that removing the four projects was less censorship than losing access to Modrinth entirely for Russian users. But that choice, made under pressure and with little time, was short-sighted. It was not consistent with our values, our support of the LGBTQ+ community, or our stance against censorship.

We want to be clear: the decision to comply, even briefly, was a mistake. And we are deeply sorry for it.

What We’re Doing Now

We have decided to reverse that decision. The four projects in question will be fully restored for Russian users. Our values are not negotiable. Going forward, we will not comply with requests from any government body that go against them. Modrinth exists to make game modding open and accessible for all, and we stand by that mission.

We know Modrinth will be blocked by the Russian government at some point, but we will do everything we can to prepare Russian users for it. They will be informed of the upcoming ban and will be provided guidance on how they can continue accessing the website.

Impact on Creators

Modrinth being banned in Russia will not significantly impact overall creator revenue, as very little comes from those users. However, it may affect individual creators in different ways.

For Russian creators, or anyone with a large audience in Russia, this ban could disrupt your revenue and livelihood. That is painful and unfair. We are deeply sorry for this happening and will continue to do everything we can to support you.

Our Commitment

From our whole team: we are sorry. We let urgency and pressure steer us into a decision that did not reflect who we are or what we stand for. We want to be transparent about that mistake and take responsibility for making it right.

Our mission remains the same: to support creators, to keep modding accessible, and to provide a safe and welcoming place for everyone.

Thank you for holding us accountable. Thank you for trusting us to do better. And we hope you can continue to support us. If you are in danger or need resources, please consider reaching out to Rainbow Railroad, an organization dedicated to helping LGBTQ+ people escape oppression.

💚 The Modrinth Team

Also available in Russian / Перевод на русский

Our previous, outdated post announcing the Russian censorship can be found archived here.