President Tayyip Erdogan’s justice minister has pledged to shield Turkey’s youth from ‘harmful online content’ in the latest crackdown on social media companies.
Turkey has blocked access to Discord following a court ruling amid allegations of “child sexual abuse and obscenity” on the platform.
The Information Technologies and Communication Authority, Turkey’s infotech regulator, announced the decision to ban access on its website.
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc informed a Turkish court on Wednesday that access to the U.S. company Discord was removed due to suspicions of crimes involving “child sexual abuse and obscenity.”
Following a request from the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, the court ordered the removal of all content from the social media platform. Tunc stated that access to specific URLs on Discord has been limited in the country as a result.
Discord
The decision to block access comes in the wake of public outcry over the murder of two women by a 19-year-old man earlier this month.
Subsequent to the incident, social media content revealed that certain users on Discord were praising the killing, leading to public outrage against specific communities on the platform.
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“We will not show leniency to those who attempt to poison our society, particularly our children and youth, who are our pride, with their deviant ideas on social media,” Yerlikaya declared.
“No matter where you hide in the cyber world, our cyber patrols will track you down one by one and bring you to justice.”
Bans
In August, Turkey also prohibited access to Roblox, a gaming platform popular among children and teenagers like Discord, following similar allegations of child abuse.
Tunc stated at the time that a Turkish court had imposed the access restriction under an investigation by prosecutors in the southern province of Adana due to worries about content that could lead to the exploitation of children.
Turkey has a law mandating social media companies to delete “disinformation” content and to share user data with authorities if they publish content deemed criminal, including misleading information.
Lawmakers
In January of this year, U.S. lawmakers urged social media executives, including Discord, Meta, Snap, TikTok, and X, to address the issue of online sexual exploitation of children.
Discord Inc. CEO Jason Citron mentioned that more than 60 percent of its users are aged between 13 and 24 years old. He highlighted the investment Discord made in acquiring an artificial intelligence tool aimed at eliminating malicious users.
Discord CEO Jason Citron testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington on Jan. 31, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times
“So how do you justify relying on groups of less than 200 potential predators to report themselves?” Durbin inquired.
“We employ a variety of methods that function across all aspects of Discord,” Citron responded.
The Epoch Times reached out to Discord for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Austin Alonzo and Reuters contributed to this report.
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