Summary
Russia is reportedly planning to ban Discordwithin the coming days, restricting access to the massively popular messaging platform in the country. Since its debut in 2015,Discord has taken the mantleas 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 ongoingwar with Ukrainethat 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 onYouTubeearlier this year. The Russian government has even taken aim at several popular video games within the country, restricting beloved games likeApex LegendsandThe Last of Us. Now, Discord may soon be going dark in Russia as well.
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 toprevent Discord users from accessing informationbanned 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 thatmany of Russia’s game developersoperate 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 arumored 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, andPokemon GOamong others. Discord being banned in the country would mark another tough loss for the Russian gaming community.
