Turkey Restricts Discord Access Over Child Safety Concerns, Crime Issues

In a statement, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç announced that access to Discord from Turkey has been restricted due to sufficient suspicion of crimes like "child sexual abuse and obscenity."

The move follows the shocking murder of two women in Istanbul last week, which sparked public outrage, particularly after offensive discussions and activities related to femicides surfaced on the platform.

In-depth investigations have revealed a range of criminal activities conducted by harmful groups on Discord, including "personal data theft, blackmailing children, harassment, credit card theft, animal torture, and pedophilia."

The public outcry has been worsened by the circulation of videos and messages online that show minors being blackmailed into committing self-harm or providing money.

The Discord debate echoes a similar case from earlier this year, when Turkish authorities blocked access to Roblox, a popular gaming platform for children and teenagers, following allegations of child abuse and grooming.

Prior to the access ban, Tunç issued a content warning to social media and network providers. He reminded that judicial investigations have been initiated by Chief Public Prosecutor's Offices concerning criminal content on certain social network providers and websites.

Tunç emphasized that network providers and websites that fail to comply with judicial decisions and remove the specified content will face strict enforcement of sanctions such as fines, advertising bans, bandwidth reduction, and access blocking.

Highlighting Turkey's status as a state of law, Tunç asserted, “Social network providers and websites operating in our country and having millions of users must adhere to the laws and rules of the Republic of Turkey. No one has any privileges.”

He further stated that any attempts to harm young people and children will not be tolerated, adding, “We will never compromise our determination in the fight against crime and criminals.”

Amid the pouring messages, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu also announced a review on Discord.

In a separate incident involving the platform, police detained two children for disseminating criminal elements within groups on Telegram and Discord, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said.

The content shared in these groups included “child obscenity, insults against the police and martyrs and elements derogatory to religious values,” the minister explained.

The questioning of the two children will be conducted under the supervision of a psychologist, he added.

Discord is a widely-used voice, video, and text chat app with tens of millions of users. As of December 2020, it boasted more than 300 million registered users and 140 million monthly active users. Discord is available on multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and web browsers, allowing users to create voice, text, or stage channels for more organized communication among large server communities.

Source: HDN