Discord has updated its Community Guidelines to address misinformation, particularly as it relates to COVID-19, on its increasingly popular gaming-focused communications platform.
“The new guideline states that users may not share false or misleading information on Discord that is likely to cause physical or societal harm,” Discord says, “including content that could result in damage to physical infrastructure, injury to others, the obstruction of participation in civic processes, or that could endanger the public health.” (Emphasis theirs.)
The company offers further clarification about how the new guidelines relate to public health concerns. That includes a general ban on sharing “content that attempts to sway opinion through the use of sensationalized, alarmist, or hyperbolic language, or any content that repeats widely-debunked health claims, unsubstantiated rumors, or conspiratorial narratives.”
Discord says that it’s specifically banning:
- anti-vaccination content;
- medically unsupported and dangerous cures for disease;
- content that distorts information about a disease; and,
- any content that could hinder the resolution of a public health emergency.
It also cites specific criteria that can lead to enforcement actions such as disputing generally accepted information about vaccines, the existence of a particular disease, and “content that implies a health conspiracy by malicious forces,” among other things. But it’s also careful to note that its users can still discuss their personal experiences or post obviously satirical content.
Discord says its Trust & Safety team will investigate reports about misinformation. “We may take any number of enforcement actions in response to violations of this policy,” the company says, “including warning an account, server, or entire moderator team; temporarily suspending an account; removing harmful content; and permanently suspending an account or server.”
More information is available via the Community Guidelines themselves. Discord has also updated its terms of service and privacy policy; all of the changes will go into effect on March 28.
