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Russia’s censorship agency has blocked the nation’s access to Discord, resulting in uproar from Russia’s citizens who claim the ban is an attack on free speech.
Roskomnadzor, also known as the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technologies and Mass Media, claimed that Discord was in “violation of laws” after it ignored its orders to comply with government requirements and remove content it said was illegal.
It had previously demanded that the platform delete almost a thousand instances of content it deemed illegal when it was added to Roskomnadzor’s register of social networks, which obliges it to monitor for content Russia deems illegal and block it.
When it failed to comply, Russia fined them 3.5 million roubles (roughly A$53,700). Now, Russia has taken it one step further and banned the platform entirely.
“The access to the Discord is being restricted in connection of violation of requirements of Russian laws, compliance with which is required to prevent the use of the messenger for terrorist and extremist services, recruitment of citizens to commit them, for drug sales, and in connection with unlawful information posting,” said Roskomnadzor in a statement shared with Russian state-controlled news agency TASS.
The move has not been popular with Russian citizens, as noted by CyberNews, which observed several Reddit users frustrated with Roskomnadzor.
“Lots of workarounds. However, tons of communities will be destroyed beyond repair,” said one Reddit user.
Another said: “They are worse than terrorists. Everyone is fed up with this RKN.”
One Reddit user said that the ban is unlikely to last as Discord is widely used in the military and IT in Russia.
“This ban probably won’t last since the entire IT sector and the military rely on Discord. Multiple members of the Duma [Russia’s legislative assembly] have sent an official appeal already,” the user said; however, Cyber Daily has not been able to verify if Duma members have actually requested an appeal.
Russian non-governmental digital rights organisation Roskomsvoboda has also commented on the ban, calling it “yet another significant attack” on the free speech of Russians.
“This messenger was initially popular with gamers and then became an important tool for young people to communicate in general,” said Roskomsvoboda spokesperson Natalia Malysheva.
“Due to the anonymity of users, which is provided on this platform, the messenger could be used for quite free speech.
“If the Russian state cannot get information about users from some platforms or messengers or force them to moderate content within the framework of Russian military censorship, it simply blocks them and makes them inaccessible to Russian residents.”
Roskomnadzor has previously banned Signal, another anonymous service that featured encrypted messaging, again claiming that it violated laws “necessary to prevent the use of the messenger for terrorist and extremist purposes”.
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