Following a court ruling, Turkey has banned the widely-used instant messaging platform Discord, according to the country’s Information Technologies and Communication Authority or BTK.
What Happened: On Wednesday, a court in Ankara, Turkey’s capital, enforced the ban due to allegations of “child sexual abuse and obscenity” associated with the San Francisco-based platform, reported Reuters.
The Turkish Justice Minister, Yilmaz Tunc, a member of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s cabinet, affirmed the government’s commitment to safeguarding the youth from harmful online content.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Tunc said, “We are determined to protect our youth and children, from the harmful publications of social media and the internet that constitute crimes. We will never allow attempts to shake the foundations of our social structure.”
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The ban comes in the wake of public outrage over the murder of two women by a 19-year-old man, with some Discord users glorifying the killings. This incident led to a public backlash against certain communities on the platform, the report noted.
The ban on Discord follows a similar move by Russia’s communications regulator.
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Why It Matters: This is not the first time Discord has been under scrutiny.
In November last year, the Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Discord’s CEO Jason Citron, among others, to testify on children’s online safety. The committee was investigating the companies’ failures in protecting children online.
Apart from Discord, Meta Platforms, Inc. META have also faced allegations of online child abuse and obscenity.
In January 2024, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized to the families of online child abuse victims at a Senate hearing. The hearing was also attended by X CEO Linda Yaccarino and Snap Inc.’s Evan Spiegel.
According to data from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, incidents of online enticement surged more than twofold in 2023 compared to the prior year.
At the hearing, Michelle DeLaune, the organization’s CEO, cautioned Congress that the risks to children have reached a critical juncture.
She highlighted the rising prevalence of “sextortion,” a form of coercion where a child is threatened or blackmailed by an individual who claims they will distribute explicit images involving the child.
Moreover, the ban on Discord in Turkey and Russia follows a similar ban on X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, in Brazil due to accusations of spreading hate speech and misinformation. The ban on X has now been lifted.
Image via Shutterstock
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