Computers and information technology After Russia, Turkey also blocks the online service Discord

One day after Russia, Turkey has also blocked access to the online service Discord. The Turkish Ministry of Justice explained the decision on Wednesday, stating that the measure was intended to protect children and young people from online abuse.

According to the Turkish Communications Authority, the blocking was ordered by a court in Ankara. "We are determined to protect our young people and our children (...) from harmful and criminal publications on social media and the internet," wrote Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc in the online service X.

The US-based platform Discord, which is particularly popular with video game fans, has 150 million active users worldwide and is considered an alternative to services such as X and Facebook.

In August, Turkey had already blocked access to the video games platform Roblox. Justice Minister Tunc justified this by citing the distribution of "content" on the platform that could lead to the abuse of children. Access to Instagram was also blocked in Turkey for several days in August due to vague accusations of censorship and the publication of illegal content.

Russia announced the blocking of Discord on Tuesday. This was to prevent the platform from being used for "terrorist and extremist purposes", the state media supervisory authority Roskomnadzor explained.

SDA