Why did Russia and Turkey block Discord?

Russia’s telecommunications regulator banned Discord on Tuesday, citing the app’s failure to “prevent the use of messages for terrorist and extremist purposes, the recruitment of citizens to commit them, the sale of drugs and… publication of illegal information.

Russian regulator Roskomnadzor said Discord was “actively used by criminals” and that the platform had failed to comply with an order issued on October 1 requiring the removal of nearly a thousand pieces of content.

Roskomnadzor previously fined the San Francisco-based app for failing to remove banned content.

The Kremlin regularly targets Western social media platforms, particularly since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Among the tech platforms now banned in Russia are X, formerly Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

The ban drew criticism from pro-military bloggers who said Russian forces were using Discord to coordinate their units on the battlefield in Ukraine. According to bloggers, Russian soldiers find themselves without an effective alternative.

Moscow’s move was followed a day later by Turkey, whose communications authority BTK blocked the app nationwide, acting after a ruling by a court in Ankara.

Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said the decision was taken to “protect” children from online abuse when using Discord.

“We are determined to protect our young people and our children … from harmful and criminal publications on social networks and the Internet,” Tunc wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Turkish prosecutors opened an investigation into Discord on October 5 following allegations that some Discord users were blackmailing young children into taking naked photos of themselves and posting them in groups, reported Anadolu news agency.

The platform also raised eyebrows among Turkish regulators after some users in private groups hosted on Discord posted messages praising the recent double murder of two 19-year-old women in Istanbul, local media reported.

What other regulatory scrutiny is Discord subject to?

In the United States, Discord has been the subject of an FBI investigation into criminal cases in which the platform was allegedly used to manipulate minors and distribute images of child sexual abuse.

In one famous case, the leader of the neo-Nazi gang Order of Nine Angles was arrested after targeting young people for abuse on the app.

As of June 2023, NBC News said it had identified 35 lawsuits against adults for kidnapping, grooming or sexual assault allegedly using Discord over the previous six years.

NBC News said there have been 165 additional cases in which Discord was allegedly used for sextortion – where children are coerced into sending sexually graphic images of themselves – or sending or receiving images of child sexual abuse.

Discord was also exposed in 2017 for allowing its platform to be used to promote a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that erupted into violence and left one person dead.

The shooter behind the 2022 Buffalo supermarket shootings, which targeted Black Americans, had shared his manifesto and violent plans on a private Discord server months before the attack, local media reported at the time.

Last year, a serious leak of classified US military documents, detailing the status of Russia’s war in Ukraine, was posted on Discord.

Germany and France have raised concerns about Discord’s data collection practices and how it handles user information, particularly from younger users. French regulators fined the platform €800,000 ($875,000) in November 2022 for its failure to comply with European Union data protection rules.

Discord and other major social media networks now face increased scrutiny over content moderation practices under the EU’s Digital Services Act, which requires platforms to quickly remove harmful content.

Several US states have passed laws to strengthen protections for children online, which affects Discord. The measures include stricter age verification measures and protection of personal data.

What exactly is Discord and why is it so popular?

Discord was first launched in May 2015, initially to allow online gamers to communicate while gaming. More than half a billion people have downloaded the app and, according to the platform, it has 150 million regular users.

During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, Discord management expanded the platform’s reach to include virtually every online community.

Discord allows voice and video calls as well as text messaging, and users can share content and chat in private or public virtual communities.

Its most popular “server”, with 20 million followers, concerns the artificial intelligence platform Midjourney.

The platform’s voice and text options are integrated in a way that allows users to participate in conversations without a direct call (like through Skype) and easily switch between texting and voice chat.

While platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram allow the creation of single-threaded groups, Discord takes it a step further, allowing groups to segment into multiple channels.

The platform has become a meeting place for those following counterculture narratives, including the incel (involuntary celibacy) movement, hacker groups and cryptocurrency investors.

Groups espousing controversial political views or spreading hatred and extremist propaganda have been able to thrive on the platform due to Discord’s privacy rules and lax content moderation standards, compared to rivals Facebook, Instagram and X .

The platform insists it has strengthened its practices against online harm in recent years, particularly those faced by younger users.

Edited by: Uwe Hessler