Discord’s new policy will prohibiting harmful medical advice, specifically targeting anti-vaxx groups
Discord stated on Friday that it is revamping its policies and community guidelines to combat health misinformation, off-platform activity, and hate speech. It’s Discord’s first major policy change in nearly two years, and it’s aimed at organizations or individuals who engage in organized violence, promote damaging anti-vaccination content, or harass other Discord users with hate speech.
Discord is clarifying its standards on health misinformation after two years of a pandemic. Users “may not share false or misleading information on Discord that is likely to cause physical or societal harm,” according to new community guidelines that go into effect on March 28th. This includes content that could cause damage to physical infrastructure, injury to others, or content that endangers public health.
Similarly, Discord will penalize players who participate in detrimental activity outside of the platform. Membership in violent organizations, making credible threats of violence against persons, organizations, events, or locations, and belonging to groups that sexualize children in any way are all examples of relevant behavior.
Discord’s moderation is decentralized, which sets it unique from networks like Facebook. It relies on individual servers to moderate themselves and escalate content to business moderation as necessary, rather than screening for content breaches proactively.
Discord is also addressing hate speech by broadening its protected attributes to include caste, gender identity, age, serious illness, and other factors. The terms of service, privacy policy, and community rules all employ plain English rather than legalese, which can be difficult to understand. To make things easier for Discord users in countries where such terms aren’t widely used, terms like NSFW have been replaced with age-restricted.
The majority of these significant changes are the result of how much the world has changed in recent years and how Discord has expanded to appeal to a far larger audience. Discord has been raising funds in an attempt to expand outside gaming, and as a result, the service continues to draw a varied range of communities.
Warren, T. (2022, February 25). Discord’s new policy will ban harmful medical advice, taking aim at anti-vaxx groups. The Verge. Retrieved April 2, 2022, from https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/25/22950432/discord-new-privacy-policy-community-guidelines
