Turkey Blocks Access to Discord Following Court Order

In a move that has drawn significant attention, Turkey has blocked access to the instant messaging platform Discord, following a court decision that arose from the platform’s refusal to share certain information demanded by Ankara. The country’s Information Technologies and Communication Authority announced the ban on its official website.

The block on Discord follows a ruling by an Ankara court, which found sufficient suspicion of crimes such as “child sexual abuse and obscenity” allegedly committed by some users of the platform. Turkey’s Justice Minister, Yilmaz Tunc, confirmed this was the basis for the decision to restrict the application’s accessibility within the nation.

The situation has been further fueled by public outrage over the killing of two women by a 19-year-old man in Istanbul earlier this month. Content on social media reportedly showed Discord users praising the crime, which has intensified scrutiny of the platform.

Abdulkadir Uraloglu, Turkey’s Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, highlighted the difficulties faced by authorities in monitoring and intervening on Discord. Speaking to reporters in parliament, he explained, “Security personnel cannot go through the content. We can only intervene when users complain to us about content shared there.”

This development comes amidst a broader context where Discord has faced similar challenges elsewhere. The platform was also blocked in Russia for breaching local regulations, after failing to remove prohibited content, as reported by the TASS news agency.

Discord, based in San Francisco, acknowledged awareness of access issues in both Turkey and Russia. The company stated that its team is investigating these reports further.

The situation underscores ongoing tensions between government demands for data and privacy protocols maintained by technology companies. Discord has been under scrutiny for its decision not to share information, such as IP addresses, with Turkish authorities, resulting in this decisive action.