Russia blocks access to Discord as experts call it an attack on free speech
Russia’s censorship agency has blocked the country’s access to Discord, sparking an outcry from Russian citizens who say the ban is an attack on free speech.
Roskomnadzor, also known as Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, claimed that Discord was in “violation of laws” after ignoring its orders to comply with the demands of the government and remove content it deemed illegal.
She had previously demanded that the platform remove almost a thousand pieces of content deemed illegal when they were registered in Roskomnadzor’s social media registry, which requires it to monitor and block content deemed illegal by Russia.
For non-compliance, Russia fined them 3.5 million rubles (about AU$53,700). Now Russia has gone even further and banned the platform altogether.
“Access to Discord is restricted due to violation of the requirements of Russian laws, compliance with which is required to prevent the use of the messenger by terrorist and extremist services, the recruitment of citizens to commit them, for the sale of drugs and in connection with the illegal publication of information,” Roskomnadzor said in a statement shared with the official Russian news agency TASS.
This decision was not appreciated by Russian citizens, as noted CyberNews, who 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 the ban is unlikely to last, as Discord is widely used in the military and IT in Russia.
“This ban is unlikely to last since the entire IT industry and the military depend on Discord. Several members of the Duma [Russia’s legislative assembly] I have already sent an official appeal,” the user said; however, Cyber Daily could not verify whether Duma members actually requested an appeal.
Russian digital rights non-governmental organization Roskomsvoboda also commented on the ban, calling it “a significant new attack” on Russians’ freedom of expression.
“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 assured on this platform, the messenger could be used for fairly free expression.
“If the Russian state cannot obtain information about users of certain platforms or messengers or force them to moderate content under Russian military censorship, it simply blocks them and makes them inaccessible to Russian residents.”
Roskomnadzor has already banned Signal, another anonymous service offering encrypted messages, once again saying it violated laws “necessary to prevent the use of the messenger for terrorist and extremist purposes.”
