Discord begins removing partnerships with servers that contain NSFW content and slurs

[matrix07012]

Discord begins removing partnerships with servers that contain NSFW content and slurs

 

FFXIV recently lost its partnership status for allowing the word "retard".

 

Quote

Our Subreddit lost partner status due to a TOS violation that we're being given no information or specifics about and have been told the loss of partner status is permanent

 

/r/ffxiv Discord lost it's partner status today after a vague email about a TOS violation led to us deleting the channel referenced in the email. The email contained no specific information on what was posted or by whom and simply said "deal with the problem or your server will be deleted in 48 hours". This was content that was already strictly against our server's rules and guidelines. The issue was dealt with minutes after receiving an email that there was even a problem (the problem channel was completely deleted from the server). After rectifying the issue I received an email stating our partner benefits would not be restored (the most important thing is the custom discord url).

How is it after quickly cooperating that the actions of 1 person (which we have received no information about other than it allegedly occurred in a channel) is able to ruin things for an entire community (of more than 35,000) when the Discord server owners responded quickly and effectively? Why is there no policy to work with server owners - especially partners who want to make sure we're not breaking Discord guidelines. Why is there no appeal process? The entire situation is a bit tilting.

Edit: As a note, the channel in the server existed at the time of us becoming a partner. It was NOT added after we were accepted.

Edit 2: Discord has decided that our server ban will be permanent:

Searching up the word "retard" brings up a staggering 4,869 results at the time of sending in this ticket, and there are also a large amount of strong racial slurs which we won't be mentioning here.

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. 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.

It feels like they are actively looking for any reason they can to not restore our server. For example let's look at some other partnered servers:

https://i.imgur.com/r2HMWW5.png

https://i.imgur.com/jjzYjnu.png

https://i.imgur.com/6O7z0wr.png

I won't even post the racial slurs found in all of these Discords. Every partnered server had a non 0 amount. They are choosing to selectively pick out things as what definitely seems like targeted punishment.

Email in question:https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/100463940835762176/471337576054259722/image.png

 

 

They were initially warned for NSFW Lalafell art, which was removed as soon as they got the email. A discord staff member clarified in the Reddit comments that ALL NSFW content was forbidden in partnered servers.

 

This is a recent rule change since as recent as November they specifically said partnered servers were allowed to have NSFW channels:

 

 

And less than 24 hours ago there's no mention of not allowing NSFW content: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:07jigX5NLqsJ:https://support.discordapp.com/hc/en-us/articles/115001494012-Discord-Partnership-Requirements+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

There's also no mention of slurs at all. The only specific language banned is encouraging self-harm and threatening someone by doxxing them.

 

 

Here's a Discord alternative for those interested: https://riot.im/

 

Sauce: https://archive.fo/2K6pr

[Guest]

Oh no, it looks like a company is making mixed messages. It's a good thing no other technology company does this. 

[Stefan Payne]

16 minutes ago, matrix07012 said:

Discord begins removing partnerships with servers that contain NSFW content and slurs

Has discord already reached its peak and is now cracking down on content to piss off the comunity and fall in line with the "Mainstream Media"??

 

Here's a Discord alternative for those interested: https://riot.im/

Will be the same shit, if its not Crowdfunded and operated by "normal people"...

And even then there are some institutions that cause problems for them. 

 

Just look at what the Bitchute guys are talking openly about. Things like payment operators just canceling their contract...

[The Benjamins]

Most of these chat programs go through their servers which allows them to control content and the ability to search and sell that content. Stuff like this is bound to happen.

[matrix07012]

21 minutes ago, Stefan Payne said:

Has discord already reached its peak and is now cracking down on content to piss off the comunity and fall in line with the "Mainstream Media"??

Yes, they also might want to show ads and for that they need to be "inclusive" and "family friendly" aka boring and useless.

[AlTech]

Let's be real here, did we ever expect Discord to be a place free from Corporate censorship and not care about Advertiser Friendly Content?

[yian88]

Time to quit discord, once a company goes SJW its done for.

It had a good run but its over now, please be a good guy/girl and boycott stop using this garbage, thanks.

[Centurius]

12 minutes ago, yian88 said:

Time to quit discord, once a company goes SJW its done for.

It had a good run but its over now, please be a good guy/girl and boycott stop using this garbage, thanks.

There is a difference between going "SJW" and putting your partners on a higher standard. So no, I'm not going to boycott it.

[Arika]

What benefit does a partner channel have over a private one instead of just being promoted and money?

[mynameisjuan]

Well a few months ago there was a discord server being spread around of local girls and their nudes. It was taken down pretty quick because a lot of the photos were when they were under age. It hit the news quick in my area. Shit like that needs to be taken down. I am glad they are taking action because most the time the server is just opened up somewhere else. 

[TVwazhere]

17 minutes ago, Centurius said:

There is a difference between going "SJW" and putting your partners on a higher standard. So no, I'm not going to boycott it.

It's when thry start cracking down on private servers that it might be time to start a boycott. Till then as long as Discord stays out of my business I'm fine with it.

[The Benjamins]

If Teamspeak 5 will have as good of a modern chat experience as discord then it would be a good platform for people concerned about having controversial content. since Teamspeak uses dedicated server managed by the server owner not Teamspeak them selves.

[AlTech]

21 minutes ago, Arika S said:

What benefit does a partner channel have over a private one instead of just being promoted and money?

Custom vanity discord.gg/YourServerNameGoesHere URL.

[D13H4RD]

2 hours ago, matrix07012 said:

FFXIV recently lost its partnership status for allowing the word "retard".

Uhhhh, I wonder if they realize that the word “retard” can mean lots of different things with some context?

 

Like “You’re a retard” is completely different from “Let’s retard the ignition when 95 RON fuel is detected”

[Taf the Ghost]

Let's see, we can normally predict what happened by looking at the funding...

 

https://discordapp.com/company

 

It's always nice when they advertise it themselves. 

 

With a little more work & LinkedIn time, you could probably figure out the specific employee(s) responsible for this stupidity. However, looking at the publicly available information, Discord is probably broke. That would explain what is going on. They're trying to look for another funding round, which means they're having to let certain political objectives happen to keep the VCs happy.

 

Discord is toast.

[AlTech]

7 minutes ago, Taf the Ghost said:

Let's see, we can normally predict what happened by looking at the funding...

 

https://discordapp.com/company

 

It's always nice when they advertise it themselves. 

 

With a little more work & LinkedIn time, you could probably figure out the specific employee(s) responsible for this stupidity. However, looking at the publicly available information, Discord is probably broke. That would explain what is going on.

 

They've burnt through the $30 Million already?

 

Quote

We've raised over $30,000,000 from top VCs in the valley like Greylock, Benchmark, and Tencent. In other words, we'll be around for a while.

 

7 minutes ago, Taf the Ghost said:

They're trying to look for another funding round, which means they're having to let certain political objectives happen to keep the VCs happy.

 

Discord is toast.

And the revenue from Discord Nitro can't sustain Discord's development?

[D13H4RD]

This has me concerned 

 

Look, I’m fine with cracking down on stuff made to cause disorder, hate speech or anything like that. What has me concerned is exactly what are the conditions that are grounds to have a partner status revoked?

 

Like can they differentiate between a serious tone or a joke that’s used to mock a movement or in a satirical manner? Can they differentiate between the different meanings of words used in context?

[Kenji the Uke]

:v.. Lalafell Nsfw? PEOPLE LOOK AT ANGRY YELLING POTATOS?

[S w a t s o n]

Looks like there's some DISCORD in the community

[TetraSky]

I don't think Discord understand what NSFW means...

NSFW stand for "Not safe for work", basically anything you wouldn't want to be caught looking at while at work.

Sorry to say, but spoilers and the likes don't fit in that category at all.

 

While I'm all for a no-slur chat, it should never be enforced on everyone. 

It should always be an option, enabled by default, to blur out offensive words for people who don't want to see them and those who aren't little girls that get their little feelings hurt by a word on the internet can disable it if they want.

 

Did Discord have a recent change in ownership for them suddenly be insane?

[D13H4RD]

2 minutes ago, TetraSky said:

I don't think Discord understand what NSFW means...

NSFW stand for "Not safe for work", basically anything you wouldn't want to be caught looking at while at work.

Sorry to say, but spoilers and the likes don't fit in that category at all. But seriously, slurs as well?

Did Discord have a recent change in ownership for them suddenly be insane?

And what has me concerned is just how would they know exactly how it is used?

 

Slurs aren’t used much for insults these days. They’re used usually in a humorous fashion, for satire, even part of normal communication with someone whom you know so well.

 

Back to the whole “retard” thing, how would they know if it’s unsuitable? Just searching up how many time’s “retard” was brought up? Is “This new guy is flipping retarded” considered the same as “Retard the timing at 6000RPM” to them?

[Taf the Ghost]

2 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

They've burnt through the $30 Million already?

 

 

And the revenue from Discord Nitro can't sustain Discord's development?

I went looking for Nitro numbers, which never have seemed to be mention anywhere. That's normally a bad sign.

 

They do audio, video & text, plus they operate their own central servers. That's a full scale, global CDN, while at the same time they're looking to hire 50+ at the moment in SanFran. At minimum, their Burn Rate is at least a couple of million per month. Nitro puts a dent in that, but they've been around this long without any clear revenue path. That is always a bad, bad sign.

 

But the big tell is always this: https://discordapp.com/jobs?team=trust-and-safety

 

It's trendy, but it's always a sign of complete management failure. Your job as upper management *is* the Trust the customers have in your business. Funny thing about VC-funded companies, who is their "customers"? It's the VCs not the users. That's what kills all of them.

[HarryNyquist]

I always fail to understand why a messaging service tries to impose arbitrary restrictions on what kinds of messages can be sent. Legal restrictions, I understand (cheese pizza and the like), but something arbitrary like a "slur" or "hate speech" is so flaky that anything can qualify as that category. All this shows is that they're willing and able to peek into whatever messages they want to and impose censorship if they disagree with what's being said, partnered server or not.

 

Plus, if they're willing and able to do that, then they're probably experimenting with cleaning things up for advertisers. Adblock for Discord anyone?

[S w a t s o n]

1 minute ago, HarryNyquist said:

Adblock for Discord anyone?

Git urself a pihole

[Taf the Ghost]

24 minutes ago, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

And what has me concerned is just how would they know exactly how it is used?

 

Slurs aren’t used much for insults these days. They’re used usually in a humorous fashion, for satire, even part of normal communication with someone whom you know so well.

 

Back to the whole “retard” thing, how would they know if it’s unsuitable? Just searching up how many time’s “retard” was brought up? Is “This new guy is flipping retarded” considered the same as “Retard the timing at 6000RPM” to them?

There are no standards. That's the point. SanFran's political scene is dominated by Progressives that believe in Kafka-esque show trails for anyone that runs afoul of their current alignment. They've always been against...

 

** Shuffles deck, pulls cards **

 

Playground insults from the 1960s.

 

It's about power & authoritarianism, but Discord is probably letting someone run rampant because they can't fire them. That's what VC money does in a company. It produces a class of employees you can't fire because they're connected.