Discord, the popular and light-weight chatting client for game enthusiasts, recently changed their policies regarding NSFW or adult content being distributed through their platform — this has, unfortunately, lead to a partnered Final Fantasy XIV channel losing its partnership with Discord, due to the dissemination of lolicon hentai images.
Reddit user Eanae uploaded the e-mail exchange between Discord and the Final Fantasy group, in which Discord asked for the removal of the NSFW group from within the channel. Although Eanae states that they took action and promptly removed the NSFW portion of the channel, Discord has refused to give them back their partnership status. Due to the nature of lolicon content, which generally depicts under-aged, or seemingly under-aged girls in lewd and often vulgar acts, Discord’s stance on the removal of the partnership makes sense, however, due to poor guidelines and a lack of a appeal process, issues like this have made it hard for administrators going forward. Eanae reached out to Discord for further comment, in which they replied with:
“By being a Partnered server, we hold your community to a higher standard and trust that your server is one that anyone can enjoy without worry,” says an email sent to Eanae, which was uploaded to Reddit. “Unfortunately, you and your server’s behaviors and actions have not fostered a welcoming home. If anything, it’s become a server that has gotten bad enough for users to write into our team directly about. This is a final decision and the perks will not be restored.”
Discord in the past, had issues with revenge porn, prompting the company to become stricter when dealing with NSFW content on their service. Issues regarding how the company handles problems relating to adult content, however, have been contested by users such as Eanae, as the polices themselves and the lack of any real appeal processes have made it difficult for Discord users that use the service, especially those who have partnerships that may be jeopardized due to NSFW content not adhering to vague policies.
“Why is there no policy to work with server owners — especially partners who want to make sure we’re not breaking Discord guidelines,” Eanae wrote. “Why is there no appeal process? The entire situation is a bit tilting.”
A copy of Discord’s Community Guidelines can be read below:
Sharing content related to minors that is sexually suggestive or violent. Do not share or post links to images that depict minors or underage individuals engaged in violent, sexually suggestive, pornographic, shameful, or otherwise inappropriate situations.
Sharing or linking to content with intent to shame or degrade another individual. Do not share sexually explicit content of other people without their consent. Do not share or promote sharing of revenge porn.
Not properly labeling NSFW channels. Some content just isn’t appropriate for kids under 18, so let’s do the right thing in our community and label any channel containing adult content as NSFW. This will add an age gate to the channel, protecting those who wish not to see.
Discord has acknowledged this problem, with one representative stating on Reddit, “We’ve definitely failed to properly document and communicate this rule, both for new partners and existing partners who have forgotten/missed our previous clarifications. I’ve asked that our partner team clear up the wording on this matter (namely, you can have a nsfw-marked channel for things like spoilers/etc, but they cannot contain explicit or other adult content) and that we document this rule in a few places to make sure folks don’t miss it and can find the information when they search.”
