Discord

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Discord is a proprietary VoIP and instant-messaging platform developed by Discord Inc. (formerly Hammer & Chisel, Inc.), co-founded by Jason Citron and Stanislav Vishnevskiy. Launched in 2015, the service has grown to over 150 million monthly active users as of 2025. While initially marketed toward PC gamers, Discord has expanded to multiple platforms, serving various communities and use cases, such as education.

In April 2025, Humam Sakhnini (formerly King, Activision Blizzard) replaced Jason Citron as CEO.

Discord

Basic information
Founded	2015
Legal structure	Private
Industry	Software
Official website	https://discord.com

Consumer Impact Summary

Privacy

Mentioned within the Discord TOS and Privacy Policy:

• Collects extensive user data, including messages, voice communications, and server participation.
• Claims broad rights to user-generated content.
• Deleted messages are stored for undefined periods.
• Retains personal information until deemed "no longer needed" with undefined retention periods.
• Processes user content for "safety features and platform improvement".
• Shares data with related companies, vendors, and third-party service providers.
• Opt-out behavioral tracking across platform features for personalization.
• Maintains logs of IP addresses and device information for an undetermined amount of time, flags any user who has ever signed in with an EU IP address for inclusion within DSA transparency reports
• Sends a web request when any UI element is clicked & when typing
• A phone number is randomly required, and the account will be locked until a phone number is added, regardless of account age or recent activity. The account will be automatically locked if the phone number is removed.

Freedom

Mentioned within the Discord TOS and Privacy Policy:

• Mandatory binding arbitration with class-action waiver for U.S. users (Started 15 May 2024).
• Users grant a perpetual, transferable license to their content.
• Users must accept the broad terms of service that allow unilateral changes.
• Accounts can be terminated without prior notice at Discord's discretion.

• No option to opt out of core data collection while using the service.
• Content may be retained by Discord even after deletion.
• Server owners have limited recourse if their servers are banned.
• Forced to use Discord's payment processing for all monetary transactions.

Transparency

Mentioned within the Discord Privacy Policy and Community Guidelines:

• Unclear processes for handling law enforcement requests.
• Vague about specific data retention time frames.
• Limited transparency regarding content moderation decisions.
  • In some instances, the offending content is not shown to the user, nor any metadata, filenames, timestamps, or even the originating channel.
  • No limits or restrictions on the age of content (e.g., users can be suspended due to something sent 1500 days ago)
• Server ban appeals process lacks transparency.
• Limited disclosure of recommendation algorithm factors.
• No clear disclosure of how the content is used for platform improvement.

Incidents

Child safety concerns (Jun. 2023)

An NBC News investigation in June 2023 uncovered widespread child-safety issues on Discord, revealing systemic problems with the platform's user protection measures.

Investigators identified 35 separate cases where adults were criminally charged with "kidnapping, grooming, or sexual assault" involving contacts initiated through Discord. Additionally, 165 criminal prosecutions involving the sharing of child sexual exploitation material on the platform were documented.

FTC data collection investigation (Sep. 2024)

In September 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a comprehensive report examining Discord's data-collection practices as part of a broader investigation into social-media platforms.

The investigation revealed Discord collects extensive user data, including:

• Message content and metadata
• Voice-chat participation
• Server membership and activity
• Device and location information

Particular concern was raised about:

• Collection of data from users under 13
• Handling of minor user information
• Inadequate age-verification systems

The FTC identified multiple areas where Discord's practices put users at risk:

• Identity-theft exposure
• Potential stalking risks
• Discrimination concerns
• Mental health and emotional impact

The FTC concluded that Discord's data practices created unacceptable risks for users, particularly minors, and called for significant reforms to the platform's privacy protection measures.

Introduction of forced arbitration (Mar. 2024)

In March 2024, Discord users were notified via email that forced arbitration would be added to the terms of service , effective 15 April 2024. Users could opt out by sending an 'opt-out notice' to [email protected] within the thirty days preceding 15 April 2024 or by registering their first account.

Reinforcement of forced arbitration (Sept. 2025)

Announced August 29th, 2025, and put into effect September 29th, 2025, Discord updated and re-iterated their forced arbitration clause from March 2024, but gave users another option to opt-out of forced arbitration until October 29th, 2025 for existing accounts, or 30-days after initial agreement for new accounts. Users are automatically opted into the forced arbitration clause if no action is taken to specifically opt-out of forced arbitration within 30 days. Instead, if the users chose to delete their accounts, the platform forced them to accept the terms in order to access their account, from which to delete it; making accepting the new terms mandatory.

(2025-09-29) An example of Discord forcing users to agree to arbitration if they want to continue using the application. The terms of service at the time of this screenshot includes forced arbitration and disallows users from filing a class-action lawsuit.

Third-Party Customer Service Data Breach (Oct. 2025)

In October 2025, Discord issued a press release announcing a "Security Incident Involving Third-Party Customer Service", in which "the unauthorized party [...] gained access to a small number of government‑ID images (e.g., driver’s license, passport) from users who had appealed an age determination", as well as other personal data provided to support. The third-party in question has not been formally named.

Vague moderation

Main article: Discord's irresponsible moderation

How to delete account without agreeing to ToS

Go to https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/212500837-How-to-Delete-your-Discord-Account. Scroll down until you see a header titled "Having Trouble Deleting Your Discord Account?" and under the first bullet point there is a link titled "reach out to our support team". Direct link subject to user instance - http://dis.gd/support

You will now be in a form titled "Submit a request". (You may also search the web with "Submit a request Discord" to find the form. Be sure to answer the question "What can we help you with" with "Help and Support" from the drop down.) Be sure to fill out the form with the same email address as your Discord account or you may have to restart this process!

In the form, under "Type of question" there is an option for "Account deletion request". Proceed to fill out and submit the form with any other relevant information.

You will then receive an email with further instructions, including on how to proceed with account deletion. In the instructions is says to "Respond to the email with "I confirm that I would like to delete the account associated with [email protected]"". Where random@email is you Discord account email. In the email it also states that this must be received from the same email as your Discord email, this is why it is important to fill out the original form with your Discord email or else the process may have to be restarted.

An example of how Discord handles its moderation from a user's perspective.

Reported countless times by users on the BBB, Trustpilot and a dedicated subreddit users have complained about how Discord's moderation is extremely vague. One such user reported their account being banned from the BBB, with an automated system handling the entire process, replying only with templates, without having a human involved in the appeal process.