Discord spokesperson blames Apple for NSFW content removal
A new Discord policy removes NSFW servers from the iPhone and iPad apps in order to comply with an unidentified Apple policy.
Discord removes adult content in response to Apple policy
On Tuesday, Discord announced that it would begin classifying servers based on content, specifically NSFW content. Not all NSFW content is in danger, however, and only applies to servers that focus on NSFW content only.
The company isn't providing much insight into the issue. According to Mashable, a spokesperson simply stated that the change was "to comply with Apple's policies." Which policy and why is not clear.
One possible reason is the app's age rating. On March 22, Discord announced that it had to update its age rating from 12+ to 17+ upon Apple's request. This means that any minor with an Apple ID would not be able to download the Discord app if parental controls were on.
A 17+ age rating is not ideal for an app directed at young teens. Removing all NSFW content from the iOS app would rectify this issue.
Another reason, and the one shared by The Verge is that Apple has targeted Discord in an unfair campaign to remove adult content. Apple is known to have an anti-pornography policy and doesn't allow any apps in the App Store that is primarily used to distribute pornography.
Presumably, Discord would be able to remain unchanged with a 17+ rating with its NSFW servers in place. Reddit is host to a lot of NSFW content, yet it safely holds a 17+ rating.
Discord is not the first app to deal with issues surrounding NSFW content within its apps. Matthew Bischoff remarks that this is a similar problem he encountered while at Tumblr. Apple would seemingly target different blogs and posts at random.
AppleInsider has reached out to Discord for clarification on the matter. If Apple is indeed cracking down on adult content within the App Store, expect similar action to be taken against other popular platforms.
Stay on top of all Apple news right from your HomePod. Say, "Hey, Siri, play AppleInsider," and you'll get latest AppleInsider Podcast. Or ask your HomePod mini for "AppleInsider Daily" instead and you'll hear a fast update direct from our news team. And, if you're interested in Apple-centric home automation, say "Hey, Siri, play HomeKit Insider," and you'll be listening to our newest specialized podcast in moments.
Discord removes adult content in response to Apple policy
On Tuesday, Discord announced that it would begin classifying servers based on content, specifically NSFW content. Not all NSFW content is in danger, however, and only applies to servers that focus on NSFW content only.
The company isn't providing much insight into the issue. According to Mashable, a spokesperson simply stated that the change was "to comply with Apple's policies." Which policy and why is not clear.
One possible reason is the app's age rating. On March 22, Discord announced that it had to update its age rating from 12+ to 17+ upon Apple's request. This means that any minor with an Apple ID would not be able to download the Discord app if parental controls were on.
A 17+ age rating is not ideal for an app directed at young teens. Removing all NSFW content from the iOS app would rectify this issue.
Another reason, and the one shared by The Verge is that Apple has targeted Discord in an unfair campaign to remove adult content. Apple is known to have an anti-pornography policy and doesn't allow any apps in the App Store that is primarily used to distribute pornography.
Presumably, Discord would be able to remain unchanged with a 17+ rating with its NSFW servers in place. Reddit is host to a lot of NSFW content, yet it safely holds a 17+ rating.
When we dealt with this at Tumblr, it became my full time jobs for weeks to find incredibly complex ways to appease Apple's censors. This happened every time they found a sexy blog they didn't like. It's absurd.
-- Matthew Bischoff (@mb)
Discord is not the first app to deal with issues surrounding NSFW content within its apps. Matthew Bischoff remarks that this is a similar problem he encountered while at Tumblr. Apple would seemingly target different blogs and posts at random.
AppleInsider has reached out to Discord for clarification on the matter. If Apple is indeed cracking down on adult content within the App Store, expect similar action to be taken against other popular platforms.
Stay on top of all Apple news right from your HomePod. Say, "Hey, Siri, play AppleInsider," and you'll get latest AppleInsider Podcast. Or ask your HomePod mini for "AppleInsider Daily" instead and you'll hear a fast update direct from our news team. And, if you're interested in Apple-centric home automation, say "Hey, Siri, play HomeKit Insider," and you'll be listening to our newest specialized podcast in moments.
Comments
Also, what person or company is unaware that parents want to be able to control what and how their kids get information and content? And more to the point, that Apple tries to tread a fine line between family friendly and creative expression — a notoriously difficult task, if the social networks are to believed (researchers say otherwise, but hey …).
Also funny how uneven enforcement on social networks/other companies barely makes the news cycle, despite copious evidence of predatory behavior and criticism from experts. But slap “Apple” in there as a boogie-person and it’s major news.
All that being said, their ridiculously outdated and puritanical views on human sexuality are terrible.
Apple has the 17+ category for a reason. Discord can chose if they want to be 17+ or freely downloaded by anybody and then have to deal with the fallout from having children ending up on NSFW servers or being groomed.
Not having porn apps in the App Store is a separate issue, and is within their prerogative. Just like Disney doesn't do nudity on their platform. They aren't telling you can't get it elsewhere, or as content in 17+ apps, or in Safari, etc.
IT'S LITERALLY SECTION 1 ON THE APP STORE GUIDELINES.
1. SAFETY
1.1 Objectionable Content
1.1.4 Overtly sexual or pornographic material
The fact that Apple as a 3rd party has to come in and remind the service provider about this guideline on a regular basis is not Apple being a bad guy or a "censor" - it's the service provider who is doing less than the minimum to adhere to the rules they voluntarily agreed to. The idea is simple enough, apps need to fit in a rating system, if they can't do that, then they can go the route of websites which have no content filtering.
The worse part of all of this is that it is utterly trivial to use machine learning to efficiently scan and tag potentially objectionable content as it's uploaded. This approach is so standard that it boggles my mind that there was some fool at tumblr who was doing it by hand based on complaint reports.
Does anyone remember what kicked off Apple's complaints against Tumblr? Child pornography, lots of it.
ANY and EVERY social platform whether it be Twitter, Facebook, Tik Tom, Discord, Games, Pinterest, SoundCloud, YouTube, etc. can and will have NSFW content. When someone is angry they’ll cry “for the kids!!” to take them down.
No one actually cares about the kids. It’s about control and money.
PornHub recently went through this when “commercial”(think non indie) studios complained that the little guys were eating their lunch. So the excuse was “the kids!” Except PornHub is not a distributor of child pornography. If they really cared about the kids they would target deep web and obscure websites.
This is like pulling small brands from Wal-Mart because drug dealers are smuggling drugs through Wal-Mart shelves and ignoring the urban city streets and alleys.
However, next time it would be great if you at least tried to string a coherent argument together. Alternatively, I'd suggest yelling uninteligably at the TV or something else. Anything else. Please spare folks from having to slog through more of this kind of knee-jerk drivel.
Thank you.