The policy change was announced on Friday in a blog post by Discord’s senior platform policy specialist Alex Anderson. The rules are explicitly targeted at Covid-19 misinformation,…
In a nutshell: Following other digital platforms like Reddit and YouTube, Discord has updated its community guidelines with new rules on dangerous medical misinformation. The instant messaging service will prohibit users from posting “misleading health information that is likely to cause physical or societal harm.” The policy change was announced on Friday in a blog post by Discord’s senior platform policy specialist Alex Anderson. The rules are explicitly targeted at Covid-19 misinformation, which has become increasingly prevalent across the web. “Ensuring the accuracy of online health information has never been as important as during the Covid-19 pandemic,” it reads. In the blog, Discord cited specific types of content that would fall under the new rules, including anti-vaccination rhetoric, dangerous cures for diseases, and anything that “could hinder the resolution of a public health emergency.” They stated that health information is misleading if it “directly and unequivocally contradicts the most recent consensus by the medical community.
