Khinshtein named the condition for unblocking Discord in Russia

According to him, Discord spreads prohibited information that facilitates the commission of “serious criminal offenses.” “However, if the service meets the requirements of our legislation (removes illegal materials and ensures user authorization), Discord’s work in Russia can be resumed,” the deputy noted.

He added that Discord refuses to confirm phone number information during registration, ensuring user anonymity, which “guarantees impunity for criminals.” In addition, the platform is popular among children and adolescents, which is taken advantage of by criminals who “recruit minors as drug dealers, instilling in them the normality of drug use,” Khinshtein wrote.

Roskomnadzor demanded that the platform remove more than 1,000 materials containing child pornography, calls to extremism, LGBT propaganda and other illegal information, but “to date, most of these materials have not been removed,” the deputy concluded.

On October 8, Roskomnadzor blocked Discord in Russia for violating legal requirements. Hours earlier, Russian users reported a service outage. They also complained of problems accessing the platform on September 19 and 26.

State Duma deputy chairman and New People’s party deputy Vladislav Davankov said he would ask Roskomnadzor to reconsider the decision to block Discord. He stated that “you have to be able to work with the Internet and not prohibit everything.”

Discord said it has started investigating reports of the messenger being blocked. The corresponding advertisement appeared on the company’s website.