Messenger Discord, which is especially popular among computer gamers, is no longer available in both Russia and Türkiye. Both countries have banned online services. Russia accused Discord of failing to remove illegal content. Turkey suspects some Discord users of pedophilia, but the platform operator has refused to hand over the suspects’ IP addresses and other data. Therefore, access to Discord has been blocked in these countries.
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Discord’s operators have not yet commented on these bans and allegations. but they write about themselves status page Regarding accessibility within these two countries: “We are aware of reports that Discord is inaccessible in Russia and Turkey. Our team is currently investigating these reports.”
Turks accused of crimes
In Turkey, a court in Ankara blocked access to Discord because of reasonable suspicion that some users of the service had committed crimes of “child sexual exploitation”. Reuters reportTurkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu also said that authorities could not constantly monitor the platform and intervene if illegal content was published.
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The conflict comes just days after a 19-year-old man in Istanbul brutally murdered two women of the same age within half an hour of each other before taking his own life. By the beginning of October, 292 women had become victims of male violence. Turkiye Today writesThis sparked protests within the country, but some users on Discord glorified the killings.
Russia’s discord sanctions army
In Russia, state regulator Roskomnadzor earlier this month ordered Discord to remove about 1,000 pieces of content it deemed illegal. Additionally, the service has previously been fined for failing to remove relevant content, Reuters reportThe messenger is now blocked in Russia, after Discord failed to respond.
Since the beginning of the Ukraine war in 2022, Facebook and Instagram have been banned in Russia as platform operator Meta was declared an “extremist organization” in the country. X (formerly Twitter) is also blocked in Russia. However, Discord has until now been used by the Russian military for internal communications as it does not have its own secure messaging service. Washington Post report,
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