Discord, the popular messaging platform primarily used by gaming communities, has now been blocked in both Russia and Turkey. The bans come as part of these governments’ broader efforts to tighten control over digital platforms, with the authorities citing concerns over illegal content. Millions of users in both countries have been left without access to Discord.

Russia’s move to ban Discord is part of its ongoing campaign to limit foreign tech companies. According to TechCrunch, Russia’s internet regulator accused Discord of allowing the distribution of extremist content, including child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Ironically, Discord was being used by Russia’s own military for secure communication. Without an internal secure communication infrastructure, the Russian military had been depending on Discord — a fact that makes the ban all the more surprising. Nonetheless, Russian authorities insist the ban is necessary to prevent the spread of unlawful content.

Turkish authorities blocked Discord after the platform refused to comply with demands for user data access, despite suspicions that “child sexual abuse and obscenity” had taken place on the platform.

In response to these actions, Discord acknowledged the situation, stating on its status page, “We are aware of reports of Discord being unreachable in Russia and Turkey. Our team is investigating these reports at this time.”

These bans are the latest examples of how the Russian and Turkish governments are cracking down on foreign tech platforms. As Vice points out, Discord joins a growing list of American platforms restricted in Russia, including Meta’s social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram) and X (formerly Twitter).

Russia also imposed fines on both Discord and Google recently for hosting prohibited content. The fines, though relatively small, highlighted the Russian authorities’ strategy to pressure foreign platforms into compliance.

Discord had around 30 to 40 million users in Russia, representing about 4% of its global user base — a significant number of people now cut off from the platform.