Russia Commands Discord to Expunge Controversial Content

Russia's communications regulator has ordered Discord to delete almost 1,000 materials deemed illegal, including posts involving child pornography, drug abuse, and LGBT propaganda. This is part of a wider crackdown on illegal content by foreign tech platforms. Discord was recently fined over these issues.

Russia's communications regulator has issued a directive to the instant messaging platform Discord, mandating the removal of nearly 1,000 materials it classifies as illegal. These include posts featuring child pornography, promoting drug abuse, and LGBT propaganda, the TASS news agency reported on Tuesday. Both Discord and the regulator, Roskomnadzor, did not immediately comment on the matter.

Roskomnadzor is calling for the deletion of 947 illegal materials, TASS quoted the regulator as saying. These posts allegedly contain a range of prohibited content, from child pornography and extremism calls to the involvement of minors in illegal activities and pro-drug messages. For years, Russia has instructed foreign tech platforms to eliminate content it finds illegal, imposing modest but recurrent fines for non-compliance.

Amid a broader crackdown driven by President Vladimir Putin to uphold what he terms traditional values, Moscow expanded restrictions on what it describes as LGBT propaganda last year. Roskomnadzor pointed out that Discord had previously neglected to purge banned material, resulting in a 3.5 million rouble ($37,493) fine on Monday. Russia has a history of banning social media platforms that do not adhere to its content policies. ($1 = 93.3500 roubles)

(With inputs from agencies.)