Russia has banned the popular U.S.-based group chat and social platform Discord, citing violations of local laws. The ban, enforced by Russia’s communications regulator Roskomnadzor, comes after Discord failed to comply with demands to remove nearly 1,000 items of content that the regulator deemed illegal. Discord, widely used by gamers and communities worldwide, has not yet responded to the ban.
This decision is part of a broader crackdown on foreign technology platforms that Russia has escalated over the past few years. The country requires these platforms to delete content it considers illegal and regularly issues fines when they fail to do so. Last year, Discord was involved in a classified U.S. documents leak investigation, raising its profile on the global stage.
Russia’s actions against Discord are not isolated. Following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow blocked major social platforms like Twitter (now rebranded as X), as well as Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram, all of which refused to comply with similar content removal requests.
As Russia continues to tighten control over online platforms, its stance raises questions about the future of digital freedoms in the country.
