Authorities said the instant messaging platform refused to hand over requested information over “criminal content.”
Authorities said the instant messaging platform refused to hand over requested information over “criminal content.” The move comes a day after Russia also banned the platform.
Discord is especially popular with video game fans
Turkey blocked access to the social media platform Discord on Wednesday, according to a statement published on the website of the BTK communications authority.
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said an Ankara court decided to block access to Discord from Turkey because there was sufficient suspicion that crimes of “child sexual abuse and obscenity” had been committed by some using the platform.
“We are determined to protect our young people and our children … from harmful and criminal publications on social media and the internet,” Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
On Tuesday, Russia’s telecom watchdog announced a ban on Discord, saying the move was aimed at “preventing the use of messaging for terrorist and extremist purposes.”
“We are aware of reports of Discord being unreachable in Russia and Turkey. Our team is investigating these reports atthis time,” the San Francisco-based company said in a status update.
The block follows public outrage in Turkey over the killing of two women by a 19-year-old man in Istanbul on Friday. According to media reports, some Discord users praised the killing in the aftermath.
Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said the nature of the Discord platform makes it difficult for authorities to monitor and intervene when illegal or criminal content is shared.
