Discord announced on Monday that it’s rolling out age verification on its platform globally starting next month, when it will automatically set all users’ accounts to a “teen-appropriate” experience unless they demonstrate that they’re adults.
Users who aren’t verified as adults will not be able to access age-restricted servers and channels, won’t be able to speak in Discord’s livestream-like “stage” channels, and will see content filters for any content Discord detects as graphic or sensitive. They will also get warning prompts for friend requests from potentially unfamiliar users, and DMs from unfamiliar users will be automatically filtered into a separate inbox.
Direct messages and servers that are not age-restricted will continue to function normally, but users won’t be able to send messages or view content in an age-restricted server until they complete the age check process, even if it’s a server they were part of before age verification rolled out. Savannah Badalich, Discord’s global head of product policy, said in an interview with The Verge that those servers will be “obfuscated” with a black screen until the user verifies they’re an adult. Users also won’t be able to join any new age-restricted servers without verifying their age.
Ok, let’s say it is. They just want to invade our privacy. Now set that aside.
On a separate topic: What’s an alternative solution for the “there’s porn on the playground” problem that discord has? They are participants in it, they are facilitators. They shouldn’t be immune. Giving platforms a pass on things like this is pernicious. Giving platforms a pass is why Elon Musk thinks he can get away with CSAM generators.
Are platforms responsible for the content their users post? No. Rules for unusual situations (CSAM, terrorism, copyright, etc) have been established for probably decades by this point.
An online chat/message board is not comparable to an image generator because the company is not creating potentially harmful content.
Yet Pirate bay is…?
These are actually separate issues. TPB isn’t legally responsible for theft if someone leaks an unreleased song. But, the publishing company can sue them for damages related to lost income based on TPB’s distribution of content.
But we have established, for centuries, that platform owners are not liable for what their users publish…?
I think it has become increasingly clear that letting platforms off the hook has been really bad for society across the world across many dimensions. We need something in the middle of zero responsibility and full responsibility.
Boycott the platform. No one’s gonna rescue the end user anymore. There’s no more oversight. Remove yourself from the ecosystem and encourage healthier alternatives.
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I don’t disagree. We need better tools for this.
The problem is making sure these tools are not used as tools of the state for tracking.
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