Discord went back a previous decision to completely ban NSFW servers in its iPhone and iPad applications.
The company has changed instructions when accessing NSFW content after experiencing a severe push from its users. The ban now only applies to servers specifically focused on explicit pornographic content, including any server “organized” around NSFW themes or where most of the server is dedicated to content of 18 or more. The individual channels called NSFW are still accessible, but only behind an old gateway.
When asked for a statement on the latest change, Discord responded with the following statement, along with links to support articles for use and server owners:
Our goal is always to keep Discord safe, especially for our younger users. Last week, we introduced additional controls to ensure that minors will not be exposed to inappropriate content for them in accordance with the App Store rules. We realize that the community had many questions and we wanted to clarify our position and which servers will be affected or not. These updates are detailed in our support articles for users and server owners. We will continue to work with our server owners and partners and notify all server owners of which servers are affected.
Discord will continue to comb through servers and channels to ensure it adheres to the new names. It is also working on a feature to allow servers to self-identify as NSFW.
Discord had initially tightened restrictions on NSFW content to comply with Apple’s Instructions for iOS developers, which allow ‘incidental’ NSFW content, as long as it is displayed only after the user specifically chooses But instead of imposing an age gate, where appropriate, Discord has banned iOS adult users from accessing any NSFW content of any kind. The company then tried to shift the focus to Apple for its restrictive content policies in the App Store.
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This has upset communities of people who rely on Discord to generate revenue or get involved in their pursuits. Kink artists, fur groups and other affiliated communities felt particularly affected by NSFW policy. An artist, A. Szabla, explained Rolling Stone how the ban would have had a negative impact on the queer communities that used Discord to organize:
With bans on NSFW, I often see a lot of queer art and people trying to visualize or create this work to better connect with their own genres and identities, being hit the hardest and losing business and revenue due to these overruns decisions. technology companies.
It took a week for Discord to soften its stance on the iOS ban, perhaps as proof of faith for its users. However, there are still noises reverberating around social media that the company’s recent moves were partly motivated to appeal like a safe investment to potential buyers – with Microsoft being the leader.
Discord does not have clean past, which could be why there have been so many recent changes to its conditions of use for adult communities. The chat application, which was launched in 2015, has a history that allows offensive content, such as child pornography, to circulate across the platform, with few consequences, along with other disturbing content and extremist material. Yet does not provide parental control, rather it points users to a guide to use the built-in privacy and security features to keep you safe.