Summary

  • Russia is planning to ban access to Discord within the country "in the coming weeks," marking another severed connection between Russia and the Western world.
  • Russia cites multiple rulings against Discord for "failing to restrict access to banned information" as a major factor in banning the platform.
  • The Discord ban is expected to heavily impact several Russian game developers who use the platform as a primary source of communication with the gaming community.

Russia is reportedly planning to ban Discord within the coming days, restricting access to the massively popular messaging platform in the country. Since its debut in 2015, Discord has taken the mantle as one of the most popular messaging and communal apps in the online space, boasting over 200 million monthly users from around the world. The platform has become a main hub for many gamers to meet like-minded individuals across different communities, also playing host to many official servers for games. However, one subset of Discord users may soon lose access.

Amid the ongoing war with Ukraine that has raged on since 2022, Russia has rolled out plenty of restrictions and bans against Western services. Russia previously banned access to Instagram shortly following the beginning of the war, with the Russian government also rolling out a ban on YouTube earlier this year. The Russian government has even taken aim at several popular video games within the country, restricting beloved games like Apex Legends and The Last of Us. Now, Discord may soon be going dark in Russia as well.

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Russia Planning to Ban Discord in the Near Future

As reported by PCGamer, Russia is reportedly planning to roll out a ban on Discord throughout the country. The proposed ban follows several rulings from Russia's state media regulator against Discord earlier this month, claiming the platform failed to prevent Discord users from accessing information banned by the country. Russia may already be quietly pushing the ban out, with several Russian users recently complaining about outages and resorting to VPNs to access the platform. Russian news outlet Kommersant has reported that Russia is planning to roll out the ban "in the coming days."

The proposed ban follows several rulings from Russia's state media regulator against Discord earlier this month, claiming the platform failed to prevent Discord users from accessing information banned by the country.

The proposed Russian ban of Discord looks to have a major impact on the gaming community within the Eurasian nation. Russian official Vasily Ovchinnikov, head of the country's Organization for the Development of the Video Game Industry, claims that many of Russia's game developers operate primarily through Discord. Ovchinnikov cited that many developers use Discord as a primary point of communication with their fanbase, as well as utilizing Discord to provide customer support. Russia has not yet provided any domestic replacement platform for Discord.

Discord Ban Unsurprising, Given Russia's Record of Anti-Western Sentiment

A Discord ban within Russia serves as another major example of the country continuing to cut itself off from the West amid the ongoing war. Russia has reportedly attempted to develop multiple home-grown equivalents to popular gaming staples, including a rumored Russian competitor to Unreal Engine 5. The country was previously cut off by several popular services and games following the start of the war in 2022, including Sony, Crunchyroll, and Pokemon GO among others. Discord being banned in the country would mark another tough loss for the Russian gaming community.