Turkey has blocked access to the messaging platform Discord following a court order, Turkish authorities said on Wednesday. The decision comes after Discord, based in San Francisco, declined to provide user information requested by the Turkish government. The Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK) published the access ban online.

Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc stated that the court in Ankara ruled to block Discord, citing sufficient suspicion of crimes related to "child sexual abuse and obscenity" being committed on the platform. The ban follows public outcry over the recent murder of two women by a 19-year-old in Istanbul. Social media posts showed some Discord users praising the crime, further igniting controversy.

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu explained the challenges authorities face in monitoring platforms like Discord. "Security personnel cannot go through the content. We can only intervene when users complain to us about content shared there," he said. Uraloğlu added that, due to Discord's refusal to share user information, such as IP addresses, authorities had no choice but to block access.

Discord has yet to respond to requests for comment. The platform is also facing similar issues in Russia, where the communications regulator blocked access on Tuesday, citing violations of Russian law. Russian authorities previously fined the company for failing to remove prohibited content, the state news agency TASS reported.