Turkey cited user protection, particularly for young people, while Russia claimed the platform was being used for terrorist and extremist purposes.
Today, Turkish authorities announced a ban on access to the U.S.-based chat platform Discord to protect young users in the country, following a similar decision by Russia yesterday.
Turkey’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority stated on its website that the decision was in response to a court order in Ankara. Turkish Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç emphasized on X: We are determined to protect our youth and children from harmful and criminal content on social media and the internet.
Discord, popular among video game enthusiasts, is widely used for communication within companies and has become a social alternative for those stepping away from Facebook and X.
According to Turkish media, some Discord users allegedly celebrated a double homicide in Istanbul last Friday involving two young women, both 19 years old. Additionally, there were reports of minors being sexually harassed through messages on the platform.
In August, Turkey banned access to the gaming platform Roblox, citing harmful content for children, shortly after briefly banning Instagram.
Discord, which offers a free platform for exchanging text, voice, and video messages, reports around 150 million active monthly users.
On Tuesday, Russia also banned Discord, pointing to its use for “terrorist and extremist purposes.”
The Russian news agency TASS reported that the country’s communications regulator had restricted access to Discord for violating Russian law. This action marks Discord, based in San Francisco, as the latest foreign tech platform shut down by Russia.
For years, Russia has required foreign tech platforms to delete content deemed illegal and imposes relatively small but consistent fines when companies fail to comply.
Last week, Russia’s telecommunications authority, Roskomnadzor, ordered Discord to remove approximately 1,000 items of allegedly illegal content and previously fined the company for not removing prohibited content.
Since the onset of the Ukraine war in February 2022, Russia has banned access to X (formerly Twitter) and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram platforms
Post a Comment
0Comments