A Russian regulator has blocked the online messaging service Discord. It was said that the US company enables “criminal content” on its platform.
In Russia, the state media regulator Roskomnadzor has announced a ban on the online service Discord. Access to the messaging platform will be “restricted due to violation of requirements of Russian legislation” related to “preventing the use of messages for terrorist and extremist purposes,” Roskomnadzor said on Tuesday.
For several years now, Russia has ordered foreign online platforms to delete content deemed “illegal” and imposed fines if they fail to do so. For this reason, the US-based Discord service was fined the equivalent of around 56,500 euros in July 2023 – according to Roskomnadzor, the company ignored this.
According to the authority, Discord did not comply with an order from October 1st that it had to remove almost 1,000 pieces of content. The platform is “actively used by criminals,” Roskomnadzor said.
Since launching its offensive in Ukraine in February 2022, the Kremlin has tightened its grip on the digital sector. Among other things, Moscow banned a number of Western websites and online services.
