Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Internet use in Russia has been largely restricted by the Kremlin authorities. Several American digital giants such as the social platform X or Facebook have been forced to close shop or severely limit their online services in the country. This time, it is the turn of the Discord platform to be banned from staying in Russia.
The Kremlin’s internet censorship does not stop at blocking Western social media. Digital tools VPN which until now allowed Internet users in the country to circumvent the state surveillance of the authorities, have also been banned. Now it’s the turn of the web platform Discord to be swept away from Russia’s digital landscape.
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Discord is both an encrypted messaging and an online communication platform that allows its subscribers to chat freely either by voice, text and be able to share multimedia content. However, its users cannot publish everything and anything there. The platform managers recently implemented a moderation system relatively effective in eradicating the most extreme comments and child pornography content that would be disseminated by subscribers.
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Discord very popular among young people and video game enthusiasts
However, the platform remains less used in Russia on a daily basis than Telegram messaging. But the fact that it is used by various communities, groups of Internet users, associations and even companies to interact and collaborate in real time, without ever granting any right of oversight to the Russian authorities, has long annoyed the Kremlin. Moscow, which cites Discord’s repeated violations of Russian legislation, therefore orders its blocking. The country’s Ministry of Telecoms and Internet, Roskomnadzorjustifies this measure for “ prevent the use of messaging for terrorist and extremist purposes » as well as to prevent the sale of drugs and the dissemination of illegal information, according to his press release.
A blocking of Discord ordered almost simultaneously by Turkey
Ankara censored the platform on its territory under the pretext that the American company refused to share the private data of its Turkish subscribers with the government. Turkey uses almost the same speech as Russia to justify this blockage. “ We are determined to protect our young people and children from harmful publications », Comments on X, the Turkish Minister of Justice.
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However, banning access to Discord in Russia could pose some problems for Russian soldiers who regularly use the platform to coordinate their operations in Ukraine. Paradoxically, the Kremlin has never equipped itself with an independent web platform to communicate securely with its military. Discord would be used by Russian drone operators in Ukraine, according to some Internet users posting videos, which, for the moment, have not been formally authenticated.
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According to statements from the Russian General Staff, Discord had established itself as a more practical tool for encrypted communications by integrating a messaging application that would be more secure than that of Telegram. THE platform managers took note of these blockages, but without making further comments. “Our team is investigating reports that Discord was inaccessible in Russia and Turkey,” the company simply said on its status page.
