Discord is a free online platform (owned by Amazon) that hosts voice, video, and text chat. It was founded in 2015 by two friends who wanted a better way for gamers to connect with each other while playing the games they love.

The global COVID-19 pandemic saw a surge in active users for the platform, especially as there was a temporary increase in the amount of people who could participate in a video chat to help users through lockdown isolation. Now, Discord calls itself a “space for everyone to find belonging.”

While this platform maintains it is “not social media” due to its lack of algorithms, news feeds, and other familiar functions, it does focus on user interaction. It uses a simple design layout and is split up into online communities called “servers”. All users can create their own server for free. You can purchase premium memberships, with perks and enhanced features, but this is not necessary to fully experience Discord. Servers are based on individual topics or interests (such as Among Us, reading, or sports teams). They can be public (anyone can request to join) or private (requires an invitation from admin/moderators).

Once granted access to a server, users can participate in an open chat with other users from all over the world. Text, video, and voice chat options are available, with limitations on how many people can join in. Many young people use the ‘screenshare’ option to communicate with each other while watching films, playing multiplayer video games, or watching sport matches. There are private chat options available as well.

©Discord: Blurred screen showing the Discord desktop view

Discord has relatively ineffective age verification measures. It recommends that users should be at least 13 to use the platform, but only requests a date of birth on registration without asking for verified ID. User accounts also cannot be made explicitly private. This means that any user can see another user’s profile and contact them, even if they are under 18.

All moderation on Discord is done by the individual server moderators (normal users who are not paid by the company). It’s important to note that some content is visible to non-members if the server is set to public.

Our online safety experts signed up as a 13-year-old and were able to switch off the Keep Me Safe filter in settings. They received a pop-up warning that the NSFW server was not suitable for users under the age of 18, but they were able to click OK and proceed.

Discord’s simple design and special interest categories are especially appealing to children and young people. However, this creates a prime environment for someone with harmful intentions to easily build rapport with a young person based on similar interests. This creates the illusion of friendship and trust, and can lead to more serious consequences.