Turkey considers banning Discord amid child abuse, cyberbullying allegations

The Turkish government is weighing the possibility of imposing an access ban on the social media platform Discord due to concerns over its use by groups involved in child abuse, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu has announced.

“We do not want to take a prohibitive stance, but we will not hesitate to use every authority necessary to protect our youth,” Uraloğlu told the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) today. 

Discussions on the issue took place over the weekend with the Interior Ministry, Justice Ministry, and Family and Social Services Ministry, to assess the potential dangers posed by certain groups operating on Discord, the minister said, adding that any decision would be made after careful consideration of the situation.

Discord has recently come under scrutiny when messages praising a 19-year-old man who brutally murdered two women of the same age on Oct 4 were shared on other social media platforms.

Reports suggest that certain groups on Discord target children through grooming, blackmail, sexual abuse, and cyberbullying. Members of these groups allegedly use the "901" tag in their usernames to connect. Recently surfaced messages and videos from the platform show teenagers and children being blackmailed, asked for money, or coerced into self-harm. These revelations prompted campaigns on X (Twitter) demanding the closure of the platform under the hashtag #DiscordKapatılsın (close Discord).

In August, Turkey also blocked Roblox, a gaming platform popular among children and teenagers like Discord, following similar allegations regarding child abuse. (VK)