Discord

Screenshot

Screenshot depicting Discord's home screen in 2026

Developer(s)| Discord Inc.[note 1]
Initial release| May 13, 2015; 10 years ago (2015-05-13)
Written in|

* Client: TypeScript (with React)[1]
* Server: Elixir,[2] Python,[3] Rust,[4][5] C++[6]

Engine|

* Web client: Electron
* Mobile client: React Native
* Server: Bespoke, purpose-built

Operating system| Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, iPadOS, Linux, web browsers
Available in| 30 languages

List of languages

English (UK/US), Bulgarian, Chinese (Simplified/Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Norwegian (Bokmål), Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Romanian, Russian, Spanish (Spain/LATAM), Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese

Type| VoIP communications, instant messaging, videoconferences, content delivery, and social media
License| Proprietary[7]
Website| discord.com
Discord Inc.

Type of site

| Private

|

Founded| May 2015; 11 years ago (2015-05)
Headquarters| San Francisco, California, United States[8]
Area served| Worldwide
Founder(s)|

* Jason Citron
* Stanislav Vishnevskiy

CEO| Humam Sakhnini
Industry| Software
Employees| 501 (2025)[9]
Website| discord.com

Discord is an instant messaging and VoIP social platform that allows communication through voice calls, video calls, text messaging, and media. Communication can be private or in virtual communities called "servers".[note 2] A server is a collection of persistent chat rooms and voice channels accessed by invitation links. Discord runs on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, iPadOS, Linux, and in web browsers.

As of 2024,[update] Discord has about 150 million monthly active users and 19 million weekly active servers.[10] It is primarily used by gamers, but the share of users interested in other topics is growing.[11] As of March 2024,[update] Discord is the 30th most visited website in the world, and 22.98% of its traffic comes from the United States.[12][13] In March 2022, Discord employed 600 people globally.[14]

## Contents

* 1 History
* 1.1 Release
* 1.2 Evolution
* 1.3 Recent
* 2 Features
* 2.1 Servers
* 2.2 Channel types
* 2.3 User profiles
* 2.4 Video calls and streaming
* 2.5 Digital distribution
* 2.6 Developer tools and bots
* 2.7 Unofficial extensions
* 3 Infrastructure
* 4 Monetization
* 5 Reception
* 6 Criticisms and controversies
* 6.1 Cyberbullying and moderation
* 6.2 Data privacy and data breaches
* 6.3 Use by extremist users and groups
* 6.4 Child grooming and safety
* 6.5 Age verification
* 6.6 Bans
* 6.7 Censorship
* 7 See also
* 8 Notes
* 9 References
* 10 Further reading
* 11 External links

## History

Template:Section rewrite Discord was conceived by Jason Citron, who founded OpenFeint, a social gaming platform for mobile games,[15] and Stanislav Vishnevskiy, who founded Guildwork, another social gaming platform. Citron sold OpenFeint to GREE in 2011 for $104 million,[16] which he used to found Hammer & Chisel, a game development studio, in 2012.[17] Its first product was Fates Forever, released in 2014, which Citron hoped would be the first multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game on mobile platforms, but it was not commercially successful.[18]

According to Citron, during the development process, he noticed how difficult it was for his team to work out tactics in games like Final Fantasy XIV and League of Legends using available voice over IP (VoIP) software. This led to the development of a chat service with a focus on user friendliness with minimal impact on performance.[18] The name "Discord" was chosen because it "sounds cool and has to do with talking", was easy to say, spell, remember, and was available for trademark and website. In addition, "Discord in the gaming community" was the problem he wished to solve.[19]

To develop Discord, Hammer & Chisel gained additional funding from YouWeb's 9+ business incubator, which had also funded the startup of Hammer & Chisel, and from Benchmark capital and Tencent.[17][20]

### Release

Discord was publicly released in May 2015 under the domain name discordapp.com.[21] According to Citron, it made no moves to target a specific audience, but some gaming-related subreddits quickly began to replace their IRC links with Discord links.[22] Discord became widely used by esports and LAN tournament gamers. The company benefited from relationships with Twitch streamers and subreddit communities for Diablo and World of Warcraft.[23]

In January 2016, Discord raised an additional $20 million in funding, including an investment from WarnerMedia (then TimeWarner).[24] WarnerMedia was acquired by AT&T in 2018 and WarnerMedia Investment Group shut down in 2019, selling its equity.[25][26]

In April 2018, Microsoft announced that it would provide Discord support for Xbox Live users, allowing them to link their Discord and Xbox Live accounts so that they could connect with their Xbox Live friends list through Discord.[27]

In December 2018, Discord announced it had raised $150 million in funding at a $2 billion valuation. The round was led by Greenoaks Capital with participation from Firstmark, Tencent, IVP, Index Ventures, and Technology Opportunity Partners.[28]

### Evolution

In June 2020, Discord announced it was shifting focus away from video gaming specifically to a more all-purpose communication and chat client for all functions, revealing its new slogan "Your place to talk", along with a revised website. Among other planned changes was to reduce the number of gaming in-jokes it used within the client, improving the user onboarding experience, and increasing server capacity and reliability. The company announced it had received an additional $100 million in investments to help with these changes.[29]

In March 2021, Discord announced it had hired its first chief financial officer, former head of finance for Pinterest Tomasz Marcinkowski. An inside source called this one of the first steps for the company toward an initial public offering, though Citron had said earlier in the month that he was not considering taking the company public. Discord doubled its monthly user base to about 140 million in 2020.[30] The same month, Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal reported that several companies were looking to purchase Discord, with Microsoft named as the likely lead buyer at a value estimated at $10 billion.[31][32] Discord ended talks with Microsoft, opting to stay independent.[33] It launched another round of investment in April 2021.[34] Among those investing in the company was Sony Interactive Entertainment, which said it intended to integrate some of Discord's services into the PlayStation Network by 2022.[35][36]

The old Discord wordmark (2015–2021)

In May 2021, Discord rebranded its game controller-shaped logo "Clyde" in celebration of its sixth anniversary.[37] It also made the color palette of its branding and user interfaces much more saturated, to be more "bold and playful", and changed its slogan from "your place to talk" to "imagine a place", believing that it would be easier to attach to additional taglines; these changes met with backlash and criticism from Discord users.[38]

In July 2021, Discord acquired Sentropy, an internet moderation company.[39]

Ahead of a funding round in August 2021, Discord had reported $130 million in 2020 revenue, triple that of 2019, and had an estimated valuation of $15 billion. According to Citron, the increased valuation was due to the shift away from "broadcast wide-open social media communication services to more small, intimate places", as well as increased usage during the COVID-19 pandemic. Discord captured users who were leaving Facebook and other platforms due to privacy concerns.[40] Citron says they are still in talks with several potential buyers, including all major gaming console manufacturers.[40] From this, the company secured an additional $500 million in investments in September 2021.[41]

In September 2021, Google sent cease and desist notices to the developers of two of the most popular music bots used on Discord—Groovy and Rythm—which were used on an estimated 36 million servers.[42] These bots allowed users to request and play songs in a voice channel, taking the songs from YouTube ad-free. Two weeks later, Discord partnered with YouTube to test a "Watch Together" feature, which allows Discord users to watch YouTube videos together.[43]

Citron posted mockup images of Discord around the proposed Web3 principles with integrated cryptocurrency and non-fungible token support in November 2021, leading to criticism from its user base. Citron later said, "We [...] want to clarify we have no plans to ship it at this time."[44]

The CNIL fined Discord €800,000 in November 2022 for violating the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The violations CNIL found were that the application would continue to run in the background after it was closed and would not disconnect the user from a voice chat, as well as allowing users to create passwords of only six characters.[45]

### Recent

In early 2023, Discord was used to publish classified United States documents in one of the most significant intelligence leaks in recent history. The documents, distributed on a Minecraft Discord server as photos, detailed the state of the Russo-Ukrainian war, surveillance of allied and adversarial nations, and cracks in alliances with nations aligned with the United States.[46][47][48]

In August 2023, Discord cut 4% of its staff, laying off 40 employees as part of a restructuring effort.[49] On December 5, Discord revamped its mobile app for iOS and Android devices. It added features such as dark mode for OLED screens, voice messages, and new icons.[50]

After a fivefold increase in employees between 2020 and 2024, Discord laid off 17%, or 170 employees, in January 2024.[51]

Discord headquarters in San Francisco

On April Fools' Day 2024, Discord apparently broke the record for the most viewed YouTube video in 24 hours after the Discord client played the announcement video on loop in the app itself.[52] More than 1.3 billion views were removed two days later when YouTube fixed the view count. No records were broken by the April Fools' Day video.

Citron announced in April 2025 that he was stepping down as Discord's CEO but would remain on the board of directors, with Humam Sakhnini, a former Activision Blizzard executive, becoming CEO. Citron wrote this move was in anticipation of making Discord a publicly traded company.[53]

During the Gen Z protests of 2025, many demonstrations were organized on the platform.[54] In September, Discord was used in the 2025 Nepal protests and to help elect a new prime minister despite being banned in Nepal along with other social media except TikTok.[55][56][57] The Moroccan protests at the end of that month also originated on Discord, using the platform for organising and public statements.[58][59][60] After the suspect in the assassination of Charlie Kirk earlier that month confessed to the killing on the platform,[61] Sakhnini was called to testify before the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on "the radicalization of online forum users, including instances of open incitement to commit politically motivated acts".[62][60]

Bloomberg News reported that in mid-January 2026, Discord filed plans in confidence for an initial public offering (IPO), supported by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan banks.[63]

## Features

Discord is centered around managing communities. Communication tools such as voice and video calls, persistent chat rooms, and integrations with other gamer-focused services along with the general ability to send direct messages and create personal groups are present.[64]

### Servers

Discord communities are organized into discrete collections of channels called servers. Although they are referred to as servers on the front end, they are called "guilds" in the developer documentation, to distinguish themselves from physical computer servers.[65] Users can create servers for free, manage their public visibility, and create voice channels, text channels, and categories to sort the channels into.[64] Most servers have a limit of 250,000 members, but this limit can be raised if the server owner contacts Discord.[66] Users can also create roles and assign them to server members. Roles can, among other things, determine which channels users have access to, change users’ colors, and designate a server's moderation team. The previously largest known Discord server was Snowsgiving 2021, an official Discord-controlled server made for the 2021 winter holiday season. It reached 1 million members.[67] In 2023, the server for Midjourney reached over 15 million members, making it the largest server on Discord.[68]

Since 2017, Discord has allowed game developers and publishers to verify their servers. Verified servers, like verified accounts on social media, have badges to mark them as official. A verified server is moderated by its developers' or publishers' moderation team. Verification was extended in February 2018 to include esports teams and musical artists.[69][70][71] By the end of 2017, about 450 servers were verified.[72] In 2023, Discord paused the verification program to perform maintenance. The program has not been reopened as of September 2024.[update][73]

### Channel types

Channels may be used for voice chat, streaming, instant messaging, and file sharing.

Discord launched Stage Channels in May 2021, a feature similar to Clubhouse that allows for live, moderated channels, audio talks, discussions, and other uses, which can be limited to invited or ticketed users. Initially, users could search for open Stage Channels relevant to their interests through a Stage Discovery tool. It was discontinued in October 2021.[74][75]

In August 2021, Discord launched Threads, temporary text channels that can be set to automatically disappear. This is meant to help foster more communication within servers.[76]

Forum Channels, which allow for longer and separate conversations, were introduced in September 2022. They bring an Internet forum experience to Discord.[77]

Discord launched Media Channels in June 2023. Media Channels are restricted to videos and images only.[78]

### User profiles

Users register for Discord with an email address and must create a username. Until mid-2023, to allow multiple users to use the same username, each user was assigned a four-digit number called a "discriminator" (colloquially a "Discord tag"), prefixed with "#" and added to the end of their username.[79] Users who subscribed to Discord Nitro could change this tag to any four-digit number. This system was changed to a handle-based system in May 2023, removing the discriminator from usernames.[80] This new system mandated a change of username. Users selected their new usernames in priority based on how early they registered for Discord, Nitro status, and ownership of partner and verified servers.[81] Users criticized the impersonation risk if another user claimed their previous username.[82]

In June 2021, Discord added a feature that allows users to add an about me section to their profiles and a custom colored banner at the top of their profile. Subscribers to Discord Nitro can upload static or animated images as their banners instead of solid colors.[83]

### Video calls and streaming

Video calling and screen sharing were added in October 2017, allowing users to create private video calls with up to 10 users,[84] later increased to 50 due to the increased popularity of video calling during the COVID-19 pandemic.[85]

In August 2019, this was expanded with live streaming channels in servers. A user can share their entire screen, or a specific application, and others in that channel can choose to watch the stream. While these features somewhat mimic the livestreaming capabilities of platforms like Twitch, Discord does not plan to compete with these services, as these features were made for small groups.[72]

### Digital distribution

In August 2018, Discord launched a games storefront beta, allowing users to purchase a curated set of games through the service.[86] This will include a "First on Discord" featured set of games that their developers attest to Discord's help in getting launched, giving these games 90 days of exclusivity on the Discord marketplace. Discord Nitro subscribers will also gain access to a rotating set of games as part of their subscription, with the price of Nitro being bumped from $4.99 to $9.99 a month.[87][88] A cheaper service, "Nitro Classic", was released with the same perks as Nitro but without free games.

Following the launch of the Epic Games Store, which challenged Valve's Steam storefront by only taking a 12% cut of game revenue, Discord announced in December 2018 that it would reduce its own revenue cut to 10%.[89]

To further support developers, starting in March 2019 Discord gave the ability for developers and publishers that ran their own servers to offer their games through a dedicated store channel on their server, with Discord managing the payment processing and distribution. This can be used, for example, to give select users access to alpha- and beta-builds of a game in progress as an early access alternative.[90]

Also in March 2019, Discord removed the digital storefront, instead choosing to focus on the Nitro subscription and having direct sales be done through developer's own servers.[91] In September 2019, Discord announced that it was ending its free game service in October 2019 as they found too few people were playing the games offered.[92]

### Developer tools and bots

In December 2016, Discord introduced its GameBridge API, which allows game developers to directly integrate with Discord within games.[93]

In December 2017, Discord added a software development kit (SDK) that allows developers to integrate their games with the service, called "rich presence". This integration is commonly used to allow players to join each other's games through Discord or to display information about a player's game progression in their Discord profile.[94]

Bots are community-made tools to automate tasks. When installed by server owners, they may aid in moderation, host mini games, and perform myriad other automated tasks. As of 2021,[update] about 430,000 bots were active in about 30% of all servers. Discord provides official bot APIs that allow custom elements such as dropdowns and buttons. In spring 2022, Discord released an official "app directory" where server owners can add bots to their servers in-Discord. The Verge called bots an "important part of Discord".[95]

A Social SDK was released in March 2025 that allows games to incorporate Discord's social features and assists with in-game communications between Discord and non-Discord users.[96]

### Unofficial extensions

Although Discord disallows modifications,[97] many unofficial extensions have been created. Among these is BetterDiscord, an open-source desktop modification that allows various plugins to be installed. These plugins augment existing functionality or add features Discord does not offer. One allows users to apply custom themes for free; another allows increasing the volume of a voice-call participant beyond the default.[98][99][100] BetterDiscord has generally been well-received, though PC Gamer has said it is prone to crashes and bugs.[98] According to its developers, BetterDiscord users are not at risk of being sanctioned by Discord so long as they do not use additional modifications that violate Discord's terms of service.[101]

## Infrastructure

Discord is a persistent group chat software, based on an eventually consistent database architecture.[102] Discord was originally built on MongoDB. The infrastructure migrated to Apache Cassandra when the platform reached a billion messages, then to ScyllaDB when it reached a trillion messages.[103]

Jason Citron, Discord co-founder and former CEO, at TechCrunch Disrupt 2018

The desktop, web, and iOS apps use React, using React Native on iOS/iPadOS.[1] The Android app was originally written natively but now shares code with the iOS app.[104] The desktop client is built on the Electron software framework using web technologies, which allows it to be multi-platform and operate as an installed application on personal computers.[105]

The software is supported by Google Cloud Platform's infrastructure in more than 30 data centres in 13 regions[106] to keep latency with clients low.[107]

For its WebRTC transport of voice and video, Discord uses dedicated server infrastructure from Datapacket.[108]

In July 2020, Discord added noise suppression into its mobile app using the Krisp audio-filtering technology.[109]

Discord's backend is written mostly in Elixir[2] and Python,[3] as well as Rust,[4][5] Go, and C++.[6]

## Monetization

While the software itself comes at no cost, the developers investigated ways to monetize it, with options including paid customization options such as emoji or stickers.[20]

In January 2017, the first paid subscription and features were released with "Discord Nitro Classic" (originally "Discord Nitro"). For a monthly fee of $4.99, users got an animated avatar, custom and/or animated[110] emojis across all servers (non-Nitro users could only use custom emoji on the server they were added to), an increased maximum file size on file uploads (from 8 MB to 50 MB), screen sharing in higher resolution, choice of discriminator (from #0001 to #9999), and a unique profile badge.[111]

In October 2018, "Discord Nitro" was renamed "Discord Nitro Classic" with the introduction of the new "Discord Nitro", which cost $9.99 and included access to free browser games through the Discord game store. Monthly subscribers of Discord Nitro Classic at the time of the introduction of the Discord games store were gifted with Discord Nitro until January 1, 2020, and yearly subscribers of Discord Nitro Classic were gifted with Discord Nitro until January 1, 2021.[87]

In October 2019, Discord ended its free game service with Nitro.[92]

In June 2019, Discord introduced Server Boosts, a way to benefit specific servers by purchasing "boosts" for them, with enough boosts granting various benefits for the users in that server. Each boost is a subscription costing $4.99 a month. For example, if a server maintains two boosts, it unlocks perks such as a higher maximum audio quality in voice channels and the ability to use an animated server icon. Users with Discord Nitro or Discord Nitro Classic have a 30% discount on server boost costs, with Nitro subscribers specifically also getting two free server boosts.[112][113]

Discord began testing digital stickers on its platform in October 2020 for users in Canada. Most stickers cost between $1.50 and $2.25. Discord Nitro subscribers received a free "What's Up Wumpus" sticker pack focused on Discord's mascot, Wumpus.[114] In May 2023, Discord made most stickers free to all users. The ability to purchase stickers was discontinued, and users who had done so were refunded.

In October 2022, the "Discord Nitro Classic" subscription tier was replaced by a $2.99 "Discord Nitro Basic", which features a subset of features from the $9.99 "Nitro" tier.[115]

Discord added Avatar Decorations and Profile Themes in October 2023. Users can purchase animated decorations for their profiles from Discord's Shop.[116][117]

Another way Discord makes money is through a 10% commission as a distribution fee for all games sold through game developers' verified servers.[118]

## Reception

By January 2016, Hammer & Chisel reported Discord had been used by 3 million people, with growth of 1 million per month, reaching 11 million users in July.[24][119] By December, the company reported it had 25 million users worldwide.[93] By the end of 2017, the service had drawn nearly 90 million users, with roughly 1.5 million new users each week.[120] With the service's third anniversary, Discord said it had 130 million unique registered users.[121][122] The company observed that while the bulk of its servers were used for gaming-related purposes, a few had been created by users for non-gaming activities, like stock trading, fantasy football, and other shared interest groups.[72]

In May 2016, one year after the software's release, Tom Marks, writing for PC Gamer, called Discord the best VoIP service available.[21] Lifehacker praised Discord's interface, ease of use, and platform compatibility.[123]

In 2021, Discord had at least 350 million registered users across its web and mobile platforms.[124] It was used by 56 million people every month, sending a total of 25 billion messages per month.[125] By June 2020, the company reported it had 100 million active users each month.[29] As of 2024,[update] the service had over 227 million monthly active users.[124]

## Criticisms and controversies

### Cyberbullying and moderation

Discord has had problems with hostile behavior and abuse within chats, with some communities of chat servers being "raided" (a large number of users joining a server) by other communities. This includes flooding chats with controversial topics related to race, religion, politics, and pornography.[126] In 2017, Discord said it planned to implement changes that would "rid the platform of the issue".[127]

Discord has a Trust and Safety department, which is tasked with responding to user reports.[72][120] But because Discord centers around private communities, research on its effectiveness is hard to do.[128] A study in New Media & Society criticized Discord's offloading of server search functions to unmoderated third-party apps, saying that it facilitates hateful communities to find new audience.[128]

In January 2018, The Daily Beast reported that it found several Discord servers specifically engaged in distributing revenge porn and facilitating harassment of these images' and videos' victims. Such actions are against Discord's terms of service and Discord shut down servers and banned users identified from these servers.[129]

### Data privacy and data breaches

In September 2024, the Federal Trade Commission released a report summarizing nine company responses (including from Discord) to orders the agency made pursuant to Section 6(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 to provide information about user and non-user data collection (including of children and teenagers) and data use. The report found that the companies' data practices made people vulnerable to identity theft, stalking, unlawful discrimination, emotional distress, mental health issues, social stigma, and reputational harm.[130][131][132]

In September 2025, Discord's customer services, which are provided by Zendesk, suffered a data breach, which notably exposed images of users' government-issued IDs used to appeal age estimations. Threat actors claim to have stolen 1.5 terabytes of sensitive data, including over 2.1 million government-issued identification photos used for age verification.[133] Discord claims 70,000 users are impacted. Discord began notifying users of the breach in early October.[134][135]

### Use by extremist users and groups

Discord gained popularity with the alt-right due to its pseudonymity and privacy. Analyst Keegan Hankes of the Southern Poverty Law Center said, "It's pretty unavoidable to be a leader in this [alt-right] movement without participating in Discord".[136][137]

Citron said that servers found to be engaged in illegal activity or violations of the terms of service would be shut down, but gave no examples.[126]

After the violent events during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12, 2017, it was found that Discord had been used to plan and organize the white nationalist rally. This included participation by Richard Spencer and Andrew Anglin, high-level figures in the movement.[136] Discord responded by closing servers that supported the alt-right and far-right and banning users who had participated.[138] Discord's executives condemned "white supremacy" and "neo-Nazism" and said that these groups "are not welcome on Discord".[136] Discord has worked with the Southern Poverty Law Center to identify hateful groups using Discord and ban those groups from the service.[139] Since then, it has shut down several neo-Nazi and alt-right servers, including those operated by neo-Nazi terrorist group Atomwaffen Division, Nordic Resistance Movement, Iron March, and European Domas.[140]

In March 2019, the media collective Unicorn Riot published the contents of a Discord server used by several members of the white nationalist group Identity Evropa who were also members of the United States Armed Forces.[141] Unicorn Riot has since published member lists and contents of several dozen servers connected to alt-right, white supremacist, and other such movements.

In January 2021, two days after the U.S. Capitol attack, Discord deleted the pro-Donald Trump server "The Donald", "due to its overt connection to an online forum used to incite violence, plan an armed insurrection in the United States, and spread harmful misinformation related to 2020 U.S. election fraud" but said there was no evidence the server was used to organize the attack on the Capitol building. The server had been used by former members of the r/The Donald subreddit, which Reddit had deleted several months earlier.[142]

In January 2022, the British anti-disinformation organization Logically reported that Holocaust denial, neo-Nazism, and other forms of hate speech were flourishing on the Discord and Telegram groups of the German website Disclose.tv.[143][144]

In May 2022, Payton S. Gendron was named as the suspect in a race-driven mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, that killed ten people. It was reported that Gendron used a private Discord server as a diary for weeks as he prepared for the attack. About 30 minutes before the shooting, he invited several users to view the server and read the messages. The messages were later published on 4chan. Discord told the press that moderators deleted the server shortly after the shooting.[145] The New York state attorney general's office announced an investigation of Discord among other online services in the wake of the shooting to determine whether it had taken enough steps to prevent such content from being broadcast on its services, with which Discord said it would comply.[146]

After the assassination of Charlie Kirk in September 2025, FBI director Kash Patel announced that more than 20 users in a Discord community had been placed under investigation after it was found the alleged shooter, Tyler James Robinson, had posted messages in the group admitting guilt for the attack.[147] Before Robinson's arrest, users in the group had also exchanged messages comparing supposed images of the shooter to Robinson, who joked he was being framed by a doppelgänger.[148] Discord later suspended Robinson's account.[149]

### Child grooming and safety

CNN has reported that Discord has had problems with sexual exploitation of children and young teenagers on its platform.[14]

In July 2018, Discord updated its terms of service to ban drawn pornography with underage subjects.[150] Some Discord users subsequently criticized the moderation staff for selectively allowing "cub" content, or underage pornographic furry artwork, under the same guidelines. The staff held that "cub porn" was different from lolicon and shotacon and "allowable as long as it is tagged properly".[150] After numerous complaints from the community, Discord amended its community guidelines in February 2019 to disallow the sexualization of "non-humanoid animals and mythological creatures as long as they appear to be underage", and announced periodic transparency reports to better communicate with users.[151]

In June 2023, NBC News reported that it had identified 35 cases of adults being charged with "kidnapping, grooming, or sexual assault" that involved Discord. It also discovered 165 cases of prosecution for sharing child sexual exploitation material on the platform.[152]

In March 2024, a joint investigation by The Washington Post, Wired, Der Spiegel, and Recorder outlined the extensive child grooming, sexual abuse (including sextortion), and murder conducted by a group known as 764 on Discord. The investigation linked 764 and its associated groups and servers to cases in Germany, United States, and Romania dating to April 2021. Discord's representative said the service filed hundreds of reports and removed over 34,000 accounts associated with the group.[153][154]

### Age verification

Around April 2025, Discord began experimenting with age verification on the service for some users, ahead of enforcement periods for online safety laws in the UK (the Online Safety Act 2023) and Australia (the Online Safety Amendment). At this point, the age verification was only used if the user had not yet completed other age verification steps within the Discord app, and if they either access or attempt to change content settings to view explicit content. The process either required a face scan, which Discord claimed never left the user's device and used in-app tools developed by third parties to determine the user's age, or through scanning of a government-issued identification, which was reviewed by a third-party company.[155] The age verification was mandated for all British users by July 2025 to comply with the law.[156] While the Online Safety Amendment in Australia ultimately discounted communication services like Discord from enforcing age restrictions, Discord still opted to require all Australian users to use age verification in December 2025 as the law came into enforcement.[157][158]

Discord announced that it would implement global age verification in March 2026, similar to the methods used in the UK and Australia. All existing accounts will be marked as "teen" by default, until the user completes the age verification step, either through a face scan or a government-issued ID. An age inference model would use AI-powered tools to analyze existing users based on their profile, usage, and gaming history to determine if they are adults, to verify them automatically. Teen accounts would not be able to join servers or channels marked as adult, while existing accounts will not be able to see the contents of these servers until verifying their age.[159][160] Discord will review servers not already marked as adult using AI tools and some human review to determine if they should be marked as adult servers.[161]

Many users stated they would leave Discord due to the policy, citing concerns surrounding the September 2025 breach.[162][163] Other concerns were raised about the AI not being able to correctly guess the user's age, comparing the age-verification to Roblox's own age-verification system being bypassed by minors using computer-generated images, or the AI generally failing to guess the user's age, even without the use of computer-generated images. In response to the negative feedback, Discord stated that they expect "the vast majority of people" will be marked appropriately by its age inference model and will never be asked for age verification, clarifying that verification would only be required when the inference model fails to make a clear determination in the user's age.[164] Other concerns were raised by certain third-party vendors that were involved in the age verification process. For some UK users, their face scan or government ID scan would be processed by Persona, a company that has received funding from Peter Thiel, and leave their information with Persona for up to seven days.[165] Due to user backlash to the use of Persona, Discord stated they had terminated its testing with Persona.[166]

Around a week after announcing the plans for age verification, Discord said they would delay the global rollout until the second half of 2026 to address user concerns, but will continue to implement this for countries where it is legally required. Among changes to their plan will be allowing the use of credit cards for verification, providing transparency on the list of partners they will use of these checks, and allowing servers to remain at a teen rating with exemptions for "spoiler" channels that will require age verification to view.[167]

### Bans

On January 27, 2021, Discord banned the r/WallStreetBets server during the GameStop short squeeze, citing "hateful and discriminatory content", which users found contentious.[168] The next day, Discord allowed another server to be created and began assisting with moderation on it.[169]

### Censorship

In September 2024, according to Russian media Kommersant, Russian regulator Roskomnadzor was planning to block Discord.[170] Roskomnadzor demanded that Discord remove 947 posts containing illegal content and fined it 3.5 million rubles ($37,493).[171] On October 8, Russia officially blocked Discord.[172]

After a decision by the Ankara 1st Criminal Court of Peace, several hours after Russia's block, Turkey blocked Discord over concerns about child abuse and obscene content.[173] The decision was made after two women in Istanbul were murdered by a Discord user who allegedly garnered support for his action from Discord users before dying by suicide on 4 October 2024.[174]

Discord is blocked by the Great Firewall in China. Chinese police interrogate people who make sensitive comments on the platform.[175]

## See also

* Comparison of cross-platform instant messaging clients
* Comparison of VoIP software
* List of freeware

## Notes

1. ↑ Formerly known as Hammer & Chisel, Inc.
2. ↑ The developer documentation calls the servers "guilds". These "server" communities are not the web servers that implement Discord.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Why Discord is Sticking with React Native". July 26, 2018. https://discord.com/blog/why-discord-is-sticking-with-react-native.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Vishnevskiy, Stanislav (June 6, 2017). "How Discord Scaled Elixir to 5,000,000 Concurrent Users". https://discord.com/blog/how-discord-scaled-elixir-to-5-000-000-concurrent-users.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Real time communication at scale with Elixir". October 8, 2020. https://elixir-lang.org/blog/2020/10/08/real-time-communication-at-scale-with-elixir-at-discord/.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Nowack, Matt (May 17, 2019). "Using Rust to Scale Elixir for 11 Million Concurrent Users". Discord Inc.. https://blog.discord.com/using-rust-to-scale-elixir-for-11-million-concurrent-users-c6f19fc029d3.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Why Discord is switching from Go to Rust". February 4, 2020. https://discord.com/blog/why-discord-is-switching-from-go-to-rust.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "How Discord resizes 150 Million images Every Day with Go and C++". November 14, 2017. https://blog.discord.com/how-discord-resizes-150-million-images-every-day-with-go-and-c-c9e98731c65d.
7. ↑ "Discord Terms of Service" (in en-US). October 19, 2018. https://discord.com/.
8. ↑ "Discord Inc.". https://www.ripe.net/membership/member-support/list-of-members/us/discord1/.
9. ↑ "Discord (DISO.PVT)". https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/DISO.PVT/.
10. ↑ "About Discord | Our Mission and Values". https://discord.com/company.
11. ↑ "Pentagon leak suspect Jack Teixeira ordered to remain in jail as he awaits trial" (in en). May 19, 2023. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/jack-teixeira-ordered-remain-jail-awaits-trial-rcna85373.
12. ↑ "Top Websites Ranking". https://www.similarweb.com/top-websites/.
13. ↑ "discord.com". March 23, 2024. https://www.similarweb.com/website/discord.com/#traffic.
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Murphy Kelly, Samantha (March 22, 2022). "The dark side of Discord for teens". https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/22/tech/discord-teens/index.html.
15. ↑ Brown, Abram. "Discord Was Once The Alt-Right's Favorite Chat App. Now It's Gone Mainstream And Scored A New $3.5 Billion Valuation" (in en). https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2020/06/30/discord-was-once-the-alt-rights-favorite-chat-app-now-its-gone-mainstream-and-scored-a-new-35-billion-valuation/.
16. ↑ Rao, Leena (April 21, 2011). "Japanese Company GREE Buys Mobile Social Gaming Platform OpenFeint For $104 Million In Cash". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2011/04/21/japanese-company-gree-buys-mobile-social-gaming-platform-openfeint-for-104-million/.
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Marketwired (February 10, 2015). "Fates Forever mobile game maker Hammer & Chisel raises funding from Benchmark and Tencent". https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hammer-chisel-raises-series-b-140000836.html.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Lazarides, Tasos (September 14, 2015). "Ex-'Fates Forever' Developers Making 'Discord', a Voice Comm App For Multiplayer Mobile Games". http://toucharcade.com/2015/09/14/ex-fates-forever-developers-making-discord-a-voice-comm-app-for-multiplayer-mobile-games/.
19. ↑ "Discord AMA Transcript 2015.05.22". July 6, 2015. https://blog.discordapp.com/2015-05-21-ama-transcript/.
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Takahashi, Dean (September 10, 2015). "Hammer & Chisel pivots to voice comm app for multiplayer mobile games". https://venturebeat.com/2015/09/10/hammer-chisel-pivots-to-voice-comm-app-for-multiplayer-mobile-games/.
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Marks, Tom (May 14, 2016). "One year after its launch, Discord is the best VoIP service available". PC Gamer (Future plc). http://www.pcgamer.com/one-year-after-its-launch-discord-is-the-best-voip-service-available/. Retrieved May 14, 2016.
22. ↑ Winkie, Luke (June 21, 2017). "Inside Discord, the Chat App That's Changing How Gamers Communicate". Glixel. http://www.glixel.com/news/inside-discord-the-chat-app-thats-changing-how-gamers-communicate-w489086.
23. ↑ Brightman, James (January 26, 2016). "Jason Citron lands $20m for Discord". Gamer Network Ltd.. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-01-26-jason-citron-lands-usd20m-for-discord.
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Walker, Alex (January 27, 2016). "The Latest App For Third-Party Voice Chat Just Raised Almost US$20 Million". UCI. http://www.kotaku.com.au/2016/01/the-latest-app-for-third-party-voice-chat-just-raised-almost-us20-million/.
25. ↑ Patel, Sahil (January 25, 2019). "WarnerMedia shuts investment arm that backed Mic, Mashable and other digital media startups" (in en-US). https://digiday.com/media/warnermedia-shuts-investment-arm-that-backed-mashable-maker-studios-others/.
26. ↑ "WarnerMedia Investments | WarnerMedia". November 5, 2019. https://www.warnermediagroup.com/company/warnermedia-investments.
27. ↑ Barnett, Brian (April 24, 2018). "Microsoft Bringing Discord Support To Xbox Live". IGN. http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/04/24/microsoft-bringing-discord-support-to-xbox-live.
28. ↑ "Gaming chat startup Discord raises $150M, surpassing $2B valuation" (in en-US). December 21, 2018. https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/21/gaming-chat-startup-discord-raises-150m-surpassing-2b-valuation/.
29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Chin, Monica (June 30, 2020). "Discord raises $100 million and plans to move beyond gaming". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/30/21308194/discord-gaming-users-safety-center-video-voice-chat.
30. ↑ Needleman, Nina Trentmann and Sarah E. (March 18, 2021). "Chat Startup Discord Hires Its First Finance Chief to Boost Growth" (in en-US). The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. https://www.wsj.com/articles/chat-startup-discord-hires-its-first-finance-chief-to-boost-growth-11616086771.
31. ↑ Bass, Dina; Roof, Katie (March 22, 2021). "Microsoft in Talks to Buy Discord for More Than $10 Billion". Bloomberg News. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-23/microsoft-said-to-be-in-talks-to-buy-discord-for-more-than-10b.
32. ↑ Lombardo, Cara; Farrell, Maureen (March 25, 2021). "Microsoft Is in Exclusive Talks to Acquire Discord". The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/microsoft-is-in-exclusive-talks-to-acquire-discord-11616715164.
33. ↑ Lombardo, Cara; Needleman, Sarah (April 20, 2021). "Discord Ends Deal Talks With Microsoft". The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/discord-ends-deal-talks-with-microsoft-11618938806.
34. ↑ Gartenburg, Chaim (May 3, 2021). "Sony is working to integrate Discord into PlayStation consoles". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/3/22417586/sony-discord-playstation-consoles-investment-partnership. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
35. ↑ Grubb, Jeff (May 3, 2021). "PlayStation invests in Discord and plans integration with PSN in 2022". Venture Beat. https://venturebeat.com/2021/05/03/playstation-invests-in-discord-and-plans-integrating-with-psn-in-2022/. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
36. ↑ McAloon, Alissa (May 3, 2021). "Discord integration is coming to PlayStation following investment from Sony". Gamasutra. https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/380790/Discord_integration_is_coming_to_PlayStation_following_investment_from_Sony.php.
37. ↑ Wumpus (May 13, 2021). "Happy Blurpthday to Discord, a Place for Everything You Can Imagine" (in en). https://discord.com/blog/happy-blurpthday-to-discord-a-place-for-everything-you-can-imagine.
38. ↑ Scullion, Chris (May 13, 2021). "Discord's new logo isn't exactly blowing its users away". Video Games Chronicle. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/blog/discords-new-logo-isnt-exactly-blowing-its-users-away/. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
39. ↑ Kastrenakes, Jacob (July 13, 2021). "Discord buys AI anti-harassment company". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/13/22575809/discord-ai-anti-harassment-company-sentropy-acquisition-buy. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Murphy, Hannah (August 24, 2021). "Discord has won over gamers. Now it wants everybody else". Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/7e878e72-38b2-427a-a325-6a419d9f1c88. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
41. ↑ Roof, Katie (September 15, 2021). "Chat App Discord Is Worth $15 Billion After New Funding". Bloomberg News. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-15/chat-app-discord-is-worth-15-billion-after-new-funding. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
42. ↑ Warren, Tom (August 24, 2021). "YouTube is forcing the popular Groovy Discord music bot offline". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/24/22640024/youtube-discord-groovy-music-bot-closure.
43. ↑ Warren, Tom (September 22, 2021). "Discord starts testing YouTube integration weeks after Google shuts down music bots". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/22/22687492/discord-youtube-integration-watch-together-feature-beta.
44. ↑ Orland, Kyle (November 11, 2021). "Discord CEO backs away from hinted NFT integration after backlash". Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/11/discord-ceo-backs-away-from-hinted-nft-integration-after-backlash/. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
45. ↑ Brunoli, Joseph (November 18, 2022). "France fines Discord €800,000 for privacy infractions" (in en). https://www.techzine.eu/news/privacy-compliance/94722/france-fines-discord-e800000-for-privacy-infractions/.
46. ↑ Toler, Aric (April 9, 2023). "From Discord to 4chan: The Improbable Journey of a US Intelligence Leak" (in en-GB). https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2023/04/09/from-discord-to-4chan-the-improbable-journey-of-a-us-defence-leak/.
47. ↑ "Leaked Documents Reveal Depth of U.S. Spy Efforts and Russia's Military Struggles" (in en-US). The New York Times. April 8, 2023. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/08/us/politics/leaked-documents-russia-ukraine-war.html.
48. ↑ Needleman, Sarah E. (April 10, 2023). "Social-Media Platform Discord Emerges at Center of Classified U.S. Documents Leak" (in en-US). Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/social-media-platform-discord-emerges-at-center-of-classified-u-s-documents-leak-2fa87de.
49. ↑ Mehta, Ivan (2023-08-04). "Discord cuts 4% of staff as part of company reorganization" (in en-US). https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/03/discord-cuts-4-staff-as-part-of-company-reorganization/.
50. ↑ Discord rolls out mobile update in quest to become better messaging app (December 5, 2023). "Discord is on a quest to become a better messaging app". https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/5/23989155/discord-mobile-app-refresh-midnight-view.
51. ↑ Heath, Alex (January 11, 2024). "Discord is laying off 17 percent of employees". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/11/24034705/discord-layoffs-17-percent-employees.
52. ↑ Yin-Poole, Wesley (2024-04-02). "Discord Seemingly Accidentally Viewbotted Its Own April Fool's Video to Smash the GTA 6 Trailer Record in Half a Day" (in en). https://www.ign.com/articles/discord-seemingly-accidentally-viewbotted-its-own-april-fools-video-to-smash-the-gta-6-trailer-record-in-half-a-day.
53. ↑ Chalk, Andy (April 23, 2025). "Discord confirms it's moving toward 'becoming a public company' as it hires a former Activision executive as its new CEO". PC Gamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/software/platforms/discord-confirms-its-moving-toward-becoming-a-public-company-as-it-hires-a-former-activision-executive-as-its-new-ceo/. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
54. ↑ Schaer, Cathrin (7 October 2025). "Anonymous, digital, democratic: Morocco's Gen Z protests – DW – 10/07/2025" (in en). https://www.dw.com/en/anonymous-digital-democratic-moroccos-gen-z-protests/a-74266285. "Recently Discord has been in the news more frequently, and not least because of its vital role in various Gen Z protest groups, such as those in Madagascar, Nepal and Morocco."
55. ↑ "Nepal's Social Media Ban Backfires as Politics Moves to a Chat Room" (in en). 2025-09-11. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/world/asia/nepal-protest-genz-discord.html.
56. ↑ "Nepal protests: Gen Z protestors mobilising through Discord app to coordinate actions. Here's what they discussed - BusinessToday" (in en). 2025-09-09. https://www.businesstoday.in/india/story/nepal-protests-gen-z-protestors-mobilising-through-discord-app-to-coordinate-actions-heres-what-they-discussed-493190-2025-09-09.
57. ↑ Forum, Wesean High School Students. "The Wesean Times - The Voice of Wesea" (in en). https://www.theweseantimes.ink/article/https:/theweseantimes.ink/.
58. ↑ "Violence breaks out in Morocco as anti-government protests rage for fourth day". The Guardian. Associated Press. 1 October 2025. ISSN 0261-3077. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/01/violence-morocco-anti-government-protests-gen-z.
59. ↑ "Gen Z Moroccans denounce government priorities in some of the largest protests in years". CNN. Associated Press. 28 September 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/28/africa/gen-z-moroccans-protest-stadiums-intl-latam.
60. ↑ 60.0 60.1 Szadkowski, Michaël; Tual, Morgane; Clairouin, Olivier (5 October 2025). "How Discord has become a tool for youth mobilization in Morocco and Nepal". Le Monde. https://www.lemonde.fr/en/pixels/article/2025/10/05/how-discord-has-become-a-tool-for-youth-mobilization-from-morocco-to-nepal_6746108_13.html.
61. ↑ Kaplan, Michael; Milton, Pat; Jacobs, Jennifer; Walsh, Joe (16 September 2025). "Charlie Kirk murder suspect appeared to confess to killing on Discord, company says". CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/charlie-kirk-suspect-discord-messages/. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
62. ↑ "Chairman Comer Invites CEOs of Discord, Steam, Twitch, and Reddit to Testify on Radicalization of Online Forum Users". 17 September 2025. https://oversight.house.gov/release/chairman-comer-invites-ceos-of-discord-steam-twitch-and-reddit-to-testify-on-radicalization-of-online-forum-users/. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
63. ↑ Hyde, Caroline; Lipschultz, Bailey (January 6, 2026). "Chat Platform Discord Files Confidentially for IPO". Bloomberg News. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-06/chat-platform-discord-is-said-to-file-confidentially-for-ipo. Retrieved February 10, 2026.
64. ↑ 64.0 64.1 Minor, Jordan. "What Is Discord and How Do You Use It?" (in en). https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/what-is-discord-and-how-do-you-use-it.
65. ↑ "Documentation — Guild". https://discord.com/developers/docs/resources/guild.
66. ↑ "Server Member Cap Increases - Discord". May 31, 2022. https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/360052841734-Server-Member-Cap-Increases/.
67. ↑ Plunkett, Luke (December 9, 2021). "Discord Server Gets Over 1,000,000 Members For The First Time Ever" (in en). https://kotaku.com/discord-server-gets-over-1-000-000-members-for-the-firs-1848182911.
68. ↑ Harwell, Drew (April 12, 2023). "Discord groups played key role in dissemination of secret documents". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/04/12/discord-documents-oxide-wow-mao/.
69. ↑ Alexander, Julia (October 12, 2017). "Discord launches Verified servers for game developers, publishers". Polygon. https://www.polygon.com/2017/10/12/16465718/discord-pubg-server-verified-minecraft.
70. ↑ Delfino, Devon (Mar 26, 2020). "How to get verified on Discord if you qualify for it, to mark your server as official". https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-verified-on-discord.
71. ↑ Liao, Shannon (February 23, 2018). "Discord expands its verified servers program to include pro e-sports teams" (in en). https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/23/17044340/discord-verified-badge-esports-community-guidelines-fake-accounts.
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73. ↑ "Verify Your Server | Server Verification". https://discord.com/verification.
74. ↑ Peters, Jay (May 13, 2021). "Discord is making it easier to find interesting social audio rooms". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/13/22431438/discord-stage-channel-discovery-social-audio-threads-logo-clyde. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
75. ↑ Lyons, Kim (October 1, 2021). "Discord is ending its Stage Discovery tool but says Stage Channels are doing well". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/1/22704749/discord-ending-stage-discovery-channels. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
76. ↑ Shaul, Brandy (August 2, 2021). "Discord: How to Create a Thread". https://www.adweek.com/media/discord-how-to-create-a-thread/.
77. ↑ Hatmaker, Taylor (September 14, 2022). "Discord adds Reddit-like Forum channels for chatting about specific topics" (in en-US). https://techcrunch.com/2022/09/14/discord-forum-channels/.
78. ↑ Dredge, Stuart (June 21, 2023). "Discord adds 'Media Channels' and tests 'Server Shop' feature" (in en-GB). https://musically.com/2023/06/21/discord-adds-media-channels-and-tests-server-shop-feature/.
79. ↑ "Friends List 101". https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/217674288-Friends-List-101.
80. ↑ "New Usernames & Display Names". March 21, 2025. https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/12620128861463.
81. ↑ Fillari, Alessandro (May 3, 2023). "Discord Will Soon be Requiring Users to Pick a New Username". https://www.ign.com/articles/discord-will-soon-be-requiring-users-to-pick-a-new-username.
82. ↑ Gerkin, Tom (May 4, 2023). "Discord plans to make everyone change their username" (in en-GB). BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-65483184.
83. ↑ Peters, Jay (June 30, 2021). "Discord now lets you share a little more about yourself in your profile" (in en). https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/30/22558005/discord-profile-bio-about-me-banner-image.
84. ↑ Shah, Saqib (October 6, 2017). "Discord makes video chat and screen sharing available to all". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2017/10/06/discord-video-chat-screen-share-rollout/.
85. ↑ Sayal, Tarun (April 17, 2020). "Discord unveils its new Server Video Call feature in its latest update". Sportskeeda. https://www.sportskeeda.com/esports/discord-unveils-its-new-server-video-call-feature-in-its-latest-update.
86. ↑ "Discord Store Global Beta Is Live! – Discord Blog". Discord Blog. October 16, 2018. https://blog.discord.com/discord-store-global-beta-is-live-38bfd044d648.
87. ↑ 87.0 87.1 "Discord Nitro is Evolving – Discord Blog". Discord Blog. October 11, 2018. https://blog.discord.com/discord-nitro-is-evolving-4c0475d18e1.
88. ↑ Kerr, Chris (August 9, 2018). "Discord turns retailer with beta launch of game storefront". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/discord-turns-retailer-with-beta-launch-of-game-storefront.
89. ↑ Goslin, Austin (December 14, 2018). "In the race to beat Steam, the Discord Store just made a huge move". Polygon. https://www.polygon.com/2018/12/14/18140790/discord-store-self-publishing-revenue-split.
90. ↑ Horti, Samuel (March 17, 2019). "You can now buy games straight from a developer's Discord server". PC Gamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/you-can-now-buy-games-straight-from-a-developers-discord-chat-server/.
91. ↑ Clayton, Natalie (March 22, 2019). "Discord quietly shelves its storefront to focus on direct sales". https://www.pcgamesinsider.biz/news/68742/discord-quietly-shelves-its-storefront-to-focus-on-direct-sales/.
92. ↑ 92.0 92.1 Olsen, Matthew (September 14, 2019). "Discord Is Ending Nitro's Game Subscription Service but Will Still Sell Games". USGamer. https://www.usgamer.net/articles/discord-is-ending-nitros-game-subscription-service-but-will-still-sell-games.
93. ↑ 93.0 93.1 Kerr, Chris (December 8, 2016). "Booming game chat app Discord intros in-game text, voice integration". UBM plc. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/booming-game-chat-app-discord-intros-in-game-text-voice-integration.
94. ↑ Alexander, Julia (November 9, 2017). "Discord introducing new feature to make jumping into games with friends easier" (in en). https://www.polygon.com/2017/11/9/16626466/discord-rich-presence-game-join-invite-spectating.
95. ↑ Warren, Tom (November 17, 2021). "Discord is quietly building an app empire of bots" (in en-US). https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/17/22787018/discord-bots-app-discovery-platform.
96. ↑ Peters, Jay (March 17, 2025). "Discord is plugging directly into games". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/news/630823/discord-social-directly-games-sdk. Retrieved March 22, 2025.
97. ↑ @Discord. "No, we can't recommend it because it breaks our ToS by modifying our client. You're advised to use it at your own risk!". https://twitter.com/Discord/status/909076772779642880. Missing or empty `|date=` (help)
98. ↑ 98.0 98.1 Park, Morgan (July 6, 2021). "The best Discord themes and plugins" (in en). PC Gamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/the-best-discord-themes-and-plugins/.
99. ↑ Wilson, Kyle. "How to change your Discord background to customize the appearance of the group-chatting app" (in en-US). https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/how-to-change-discord-background.
100. ↑ Robertson, Scott (July 7, 2022). "How to set up Themes on Discord for Beginners" (in en-US). https://dotesports.com/news/how-to-set-up-themes-on-discord-for-beginners.
101. ↑ "FAQ - BetterDiscord" (in en). https://betterdiscord.app/FAQ.
102. ↑ Vishnevskiy, Stanislav (March 29, 2018). "How Discord Stores Billions of Messages" (in en). https://blog.discord.com/how-discord-stores-billions-of-messages-7fa6ec7ee4c7. Quotes:

"We decided early on to store all chat history forever so users can come back at any time and have their data available on any device.""We setup our code to double read/write to MongoDB and Cassandra." "Since Cassandra is eventually consistent it cannot just delete data immediately."

103. ↑ Ingram, Bo (March 6, 2023). "How Discord Stores Trillions of Messages" (in en). https://discord.com/blog/how-discord-stores-trillions-of-messages.
104. ↑ "How Discord Renders Rich Messages on the Android App". March 27, 2018. https://discord.com/blog/how-discord-renders-rich-messages-on-the-android-app.
105. ↑ "Apps Built on Electron". February 3, 2016. https://electron.atom.io/apps/?q=discord.
106. ↑ Vass, Jozsef (September 10, 2018). "How Discord Handles Two and Half Million Concurrent Voice Users using WebRTC". Heading: Operating at Scale. https://discord.com/blog/how-discord-handles-two-and-half-million-concurrent-voice-users-using-webrtc#:~:text=Discord Gateway and Discord Guilds,centers) all over the world.. "Discord Gateway and Discord Guilds are running at Google Cloud Platform. We are running more than 850 voice servers in 13 regions (hosted in more than 30 data centers) all over the world."
107. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (May 21, 2017). "Discord's voice communications app for gamers quadruples to 45 million users". Venture Beat. https://venturebeat.com/2017/05/16/discords-game-voice-communications-app-hits-45-million-users/.
108. ↑ "DataPacket.com Reviews - What Our Clients Say About Us? | DataPacket.com" (in en). https://www.datapacket.com/reviews.
109. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (July 28, 2020). "Discord launches noise suppression for its mobile app". VentureBeat. https://venturebeat.com/2020/07/28/discord-launches-noise-suppression-for-mobile-audio-calls/.
110. ↑ "21.12.2017 — Change Log – Discord Blog". Discord Blog. December 22, 2017. https://blog.discord.com/21-12-2017-change-log-76e8c0331266.
111. ↑ Nelly (January 23, 2017). "Boost Your Account and Support Us With Discord Nitro". https://blog.discord.com/boost-your-account-and-support-us-with-discord-nitro-4f894cfb80d9.
112. ↑ Lanier, Liz (June 4, 2019). "Discord Nitro Users Now Have Server Boosting Perks". https://variety.com/2019/gaming/news/discord-nitro-boost-server-1203232450/.
113. ↑ "Server Boosting 💨". January 6, 2021. https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/360028038352-Server-Boosting-.
114. ↑ "Discord adds stickers to liven up chats" (in en). October 16, 2020. https://www.engadget.com/discord-stickers-135019389.html.
115. ↑ So, Adrienne. "Discord Is Making It Easier Than Ever to Discord". Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/discord-nitro-basic-activities-apps/. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
116. ↑ Çitak, Emre (September 29, 2023). "Give your profile a personal touch with Discord Avatar Decorations - gHacks Tech News" (in en-US). https://ghacks.net/2023/09/29/what-are-discord-avatar-decorations-and-how-to-use-them/.
117. ↑ "Avatar Decorations & Profile Effects: Collect and Keep the Newest Styles". https://discord.com/blog/avatar-decorations-collect-and-keep-the-newest-styles.
118. ↑ "How Community Chat Mega-Platform Discord Makes Money — Without Ad Revenue" (in en-US). https://www.cbinsights.com/research/report/how-discord-makes-money/.
119. ↑ Francis, Bryant (July 8, 2016). "Game chat app Discord crosses 11 million registered users". UBM plc. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-chat-app-discord-crosses-11-million-registered-users.
120. ↑ 120.0 120.1 Alexander, Julia (December 7, 2017). "As Discord nears 100 million users, safety concerns are heard". Polygon. https://www.polygon.com/2017/12/7/16739644/discord-100-million-users-safety.
121. ↑ Grubb, Jeff (May 15, 2018). "Discord gets big update as it turns 3 years old". Venture Beat. https://venturebeat.com/2018/05/15/discord-gets-big-update-as-it-turns-3-years-old/.
122. ↑ Grunin, Lori (May 15, 2018). "Discord celebrates its birthday with 130 million users". https://www.cnet.com/news/discord-celebrates-its-birthday-with-130-million-gamers/.
123. ↑ Ravenscraft, Eric (August 17, 2016). "Discord Is The Voice Chat App I've Always Wanted". UCI. https://lifehacker.com/discord-is-the-voice-chat-app-i-ve-always-wanted-1785403197.
124. ↑ 124.0 124.1 Geyser, Werner (August 31, 2021). "Discord Statistics: Revenue, Users & More" (in en-US). https://influencermarketinghub.com/discord-stats/.
125. ↑ "Discord has surpassed 250 million registered users" (in en-US). May 13, 2019. https://www.techspot.com/news/80064-discord-has-surpassed-250-million-registered-users.html.
126. ↑ 126.0 126.1 Menegus, Bryan (February 6, 2017). "How a Video Game Chat Client Became the Web's New Cesspool of Abuse" (in en-US). Gawker Media. https://gizmodo.com/how-a-video-game-chat-client-became-the-web-s-new-cessp-1792039566.
127. ↑ Alexander, Julia (July 27, 2017). "Discord has a major raiding issue, but the developers are trying to fix it". https://www.polygon.com/2017/7/27/16046030/discord-raiding.
128. ↑ 128.0 128.1 Heslep, Daniel G; Berge, Ps (December 14, 2021). "Mapping Discord's darkside: Distributed hate networks on Disboard" (in en). New Media & Society 26: 534–555. doi:10.1177/14614448211062548. ISSN 1461-4448. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14614448211062548. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
129. ↑ Cox, Joseph (January 17, 2018). "The Gaming Site Discord Is the New Front of Revenge Porn". The Daily Beast. https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-gaming-site-discord-is-the-new-front-of-revenge-porn.
130. ↑ Tolentino, Daysia (September 19, 2024). "Social media companies engaged in 'vast surveillance,' FTC finds, calling status quo 'unacceptable'". NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/social-media-companies-engaged-vast-surveillance-ftc-finds-calling-sta-rcna171814.
131. ↑ Del Valle, Gaby (September 19, 2024). "The FTC says social media companies can't be trusted to regulate themselves". Vox Media. https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/19/24249073/ftc-data-retention-privacy-report-facebook-meta-youtube-reddit.
132. ↑ ﻿A Look Behind the Screens: Examining the Data Practices of Social Media and Video Streaming Services﻿ (Report). Federal Trade Commission. 2024. https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/Social-Media-6b-Report-9-11-2024.pdf. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
133. ↑ Baran, Guru (2025-10-09). "Discord Data Breach - 1.5 TB of Data and 2 Million Government ID Photos Extorted" (in en-US). https://cybersecuritynews.com/discord-data-breach-sensitive-data/.
134. ↑ "Update on a Security Incident Involving Third-Party Customer Service | Discord" (in en). https://discord.com/press-releases/update-on-security-incident-involving-third-party-customer-service.
135. ↑ "ID photos of 70,000 users may have been leaked, Discord says" (in en-GB). 2025-10-09. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8jmzd972leo.
136. ↑ 136.0 136.1 136.2 Roose, Kevin (August 15, 2017). "This Was the Alt-Right's Favorite Chat App. Then Came Charlottesville." (in en-US). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/15/technology/discord-chat-app-alt-right.html.
137. ↑ Barbaro, Michael (August 18, 2017). "'The Daily': The Alt-Right and the Internet" (in en-US). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/18/podcasts/the-daily/alt-right-social-media.html.
138. ↑ Newton, Casey (August 14, 2017). "Discord bans servers that promote Nazi ideology" (in en-US). The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/14/16145432/discord-nazi-ban-white-supremacist-altright.
139. ↑ Alexander, Julia (February 28, 2018). "Discord is purging alt-right, white nationalist and hateful servers". Polygon. https://www.polygon.com/2018/2/28/17061774/discord-alt-right-atomwaffen-ban-centipede-central-nordic-resistance-movement.
140. ↑ Liao, Shannon (February 28, 2018). "Discord shuts down more neo-Nazi, alt-right servers". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/28/17062554/discord-alt-right-neo-nazi-white-supremacy-atomwaffen.
141. ↑ Mathias, Christopher (March 17, 2019). "Exclusive: 7 U.S. Military Members Identified As Part Of White Nationalist Group". Huffpost (Verizon Media). https://www.huffpost.com/entry/white-nationalists-military-identity-evropa_n_5c8ab70ae4b0d7f6b0f1094b.
142. ↑ Peters, Jay (January 8, 2021). "Discord bans pro-Trump server 'The Donald'". https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/8/22221579/discord-bans-the-donald-server-reddit-subreddit.
143. ↑ Thomas, W. F.; Piper, Ernie (January 12, 2022). "Disclose.tv: Conspiracy Forum Turned Disinformation Factory" (in en). https://www.logically.ai/articles/disclose.tv-conspiracy-forum-turned-disinformation-factory.
144. ↑ Schumacher, Elizabeth (February 8, 2022). "Disclose.TV: English disinformation made in Germany" (in en). https://www.dw.com/en/disclosetv-english-disinformation-made-in-germany/a-60694332.
145. ↑ Aya Elamroussi, Artemis Moshtaghian and Rob Frehse (May 18, 2022). "Buffalo suspect's posts about attack plans could be seen online 30 minutes before mass shooting". https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/18/us/buffalo-supermarket-shooting-wednesday/index.html.
146. ↑ Roth, Emma (May 18, 2022). "NY attorney general is investigating Twitch, Discord, and 4chan over Buffalo shooting". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2022/5/18/23125783/ny-attorney-general-launches-investigation-twitch-discord-buffalo-shooting. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
147. ↑ Barr, Luke (16 September 2025). "Kash Patel says others under investigation in Charlie Kirk shooting probe" (in en). https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/patel-face-questions-charlie-kirk-investigation-congressional-hearings/story?id=125585288.
148. ↑ "After Kirk's Killing, Suspect Joked That His 'Doppelganger' Did It" (in en). 2025-09-14. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/us/kirk-killing-suspect-online-chat.html.
149. ↑ Barajas, Joshua (2025-09-12). "What we know so far about the Charlie Kirk shooting suspect" (in en-us). https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/what-we-know-so-far-about-the-charlie-kirk-shooting-suspect.
150. ↑ 150.0 150.1 Radulovic, Petrana (January 30, 2019). "Discord's lax policy on furry 'cub content' leads to user outcry". https://www.polygon.com/2019/1/30/18203692/discord-nsfw-policy-furry-cub.
151. ↑ Radulovic, Petrana (February 13, 2019). "Discord adjusts policy on furry 'cub content'". https://www.polygon.com/2019/2/13/18223726/discord-policy-change-nsfw-cub-furry.
152. ↑ "Discord (still) has a child safety issue" (in en-US). June 22, 2023. https://www.engadget.com/discord-still-has-a-child-safety-issue-085304790.html.
153. ↑ Boburg, Shawn; Verma, Pranshu; Dehghanpoor, Chris. "On popular online platforms, predatory groups coerce children into self-harm" (in en). Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2024/764-predator-discord-telegram/.
154. ↑ Winston, Ali (March 13, 2024). "There Are Dark Corners of the Internet. Then There's 764". Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/764-com-child-predator-network/.
155. ↑ Weatherbed, Jess (April 17, 2025). "Discord is verifying some users’ age with ID and facial scans". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/news/650493/discord-age-verification-face-id-scan-experiment. Retrieved February 13, 2026.
156. ↑ "Discord's face scanning age checks 'start of a bigger shift'" (in en-GB). 2025-04-17. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjr75wypg0vo.
157. ↑ "Introducing New Teen-By-Default Experience for Australian Users". Discord. December 9, 2025. https://discord.com/safety/introducing-new-teen-by-default-experiences-for-australian-users. Retrieved February 13, 2026.
158. ↑ Roth, Emma (December 9, 2025). "Australia boots kids under 16 off social media: how platforms are responding". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/report/840822/australia-social-media-ban-under-16-response. Retrieved February 13, 2026.
159. ↑ "Discord Launches Teen-by-Default Settings Globally" (in en). https://discord.com/press-releases/discord-launches-teen-by-default-settings-globally#age-assurance-clarification.
160. ↑ Bonifield, Stevie (2026-02-09). "Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month" (in en-US). https://www.theverge.com/tech/875309/discord-age-verification-global-roll-out.
161. ↑ Jody, Macgregor (2026-02-15). "Discord will decide which servers to age-gate 'with a combination of automated detection with AI validation and human review'" (in en). PC Gamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/software/discord-will-decide-which-servers-to-age-gate-with-a-combination-of-automated-detection-with-ai-validation-and-human-review/.
162. ↑ Booth, Robert (2025-10-09). "Hack of age verification firm may have exposed 70,000 Discord users’ ID photos" (in en-GB). The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/oct/09/hack-age-verification-firm-discord-users-id-photos.
163. ↑ "Discord slammed over age verification face scan controversy" (in en). 2026-02-10. https://www.newsweek.com/discord-age-verification-face-scan-controversy-11494375.
164. ↑ Bonifield, Stevie; Roth, Emma (February 10, 2026). "Discord says ‘vast majority’ of users won’t see its new age verification setup". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/tech/876575/discord-age-verification-vast-majority-users-inference. Retrieved February 10, 2026.
165. ↑ Carpenter, Lincoln (February 13, 2026). "Oh, good: Discord's age verification rollout has ties to Palantir co-founder and panopticon architect Peter Thiel". PC Gamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/software/platforms/oh-good-discords-age-verification-rollout-has-ties-to-palantir-co-founder-and-panopticon-architect-peter-thiel/. Retrieved February 13, 2026.
166. ↑ Roth, Emma (February 23, 2026). "Discord distances itself from Persona age verification after user backlash". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/tech/878369/discord-persona-age-verification. Retrieved February 23, 2026.
167. ↑ https://www.engadget.com/social-media/discord-delays-age-verification-to-address-user-concerns-205500482.html
168. ↑ Peters, Jay (January 27, 2021). "Discord bans the r/WallStreetBets server, but new ones have sprung to life" (in en). https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/27/22253251/discord-bans-the-r-wallstreetbets-server.
169. ↑ Warren, Tom (January 28, 2021). "Discord is no longer banning r/WallStreetBets — it's helping them" (in en). The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/28/22254339/discord-r-wallstreetbets-server-help-moderation-ban.
170. ↑ "Russia May Soon Block Discord – Kommersant". The Moscow Times. 2024-09-27. https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/09/27/russia-may-soon-block-discord-kommersant-a86492.
171. ↑ "Russia orders Discord to remove almost 1,000 posts it says contain illegal materials". Reuters. 2024-10-01. https://www.reuters.com/technology/russia-orders-discord-remove-almost-1000-posts-it-says-contain-illegal-materials-2024-10-01/.
172. ↑ Marrow, Alexander (October 8, 2024). "Russia blocks instant messaging platform Discord, TASS reports". Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/technology/russia-blocks-instant-messaging-platform-discord-tass-reports-2024-10-08/.
173. ↑ "Turkey blocks access to Discord". Gazete Duvar. September 10, 2024. https://www.duvarenglish.com/turkey-blocks-access-to-discord-news-65066.
174. ↑ "Discord banned in Turkey following court ruling | Digital Watch Observatory" (in en-US). 2024-10-09. https://dig.watch/updates/discord-banned-in-turkey-following-court-ruling#:~:text=A Turkish court ruled to,platform's refusal to share data..
175. ↑ "How China's internet police went from targeting bloggers to their followers". The Guardian. 2024-09-02. https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/02/how-chinas-internet-police-went-from-targeting-bloggers-to-their-followers.

## Further reading

* Grayson, Nathan (August 14, 2019). "Discord Explains How It Handles Harassment, Doxxing, and Threatening Behaviour" (in en). Kotaku UK. https://kotaku.com/discord-explains-how-it-handles-harassment-doxxing-an-1837220883.
* Morris, Tee (May 19, 2020). Discord For Dummies. Wiley. ISBN 1119688035.

## External links

* No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.

* v
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* e

Instant messaging

Protocols
(comparison)|

| Open|

* IMPP
* IRC
* Matrix
* MTProto
* RetroShare
* Signal Protocol
* SIP
* MSRP
* SIMPLE
* Tox
* XMPP
* Jingle
* WFP
* Zephyr
* DDP

|

Closed|

* MSNP
* OSCAR
* TOC
* Skype

Services|

* Band
* BBM
* Discord
* Facebook Messenger
* FireChat
* GroupMe
* Hike Messenger
* HipChat
* ICQ
* iGap
* iMessage
* IRC Networks
* Jongla
* KakaoTalk
* Kik
* Libon
* Line
* Marco Polo
* Palringo
* Signal
* Skype
* Slack
* Snapchat
* SNOW
* Tango
* Telegram
* QQ
* Textfree/Pinger
* The Palace
* Threema
* Tox
* Trillian
* Upptalk
* Viber
* Virtual Places Chat
* WeChat
* WhatsApp
* Wickr
* Windows Messenger service
* Yahoo Together
* Zulip

Clients
(comparison)|

| Single protocol|

* Allo
* Baidu Hi
* BBM
* CSipSimple
* Facebook Messenger
* FaceTime
* Fetion
* Gadu-Gadu
* GroupMe
* IBM Sametime
* ICQ
* IMVU
* Jami
* Jongla
* Linphone
* Palringo
* RetroShare
* Ricochet
* Riot.im
* Signal
* Skype
* Telegram
* Tencent QQ
* Tox
* WeChat
* WhatsApp
* Wickr
* Wire

|

Multi-protocol|

* Adium
* Ayttm
* BitlBee
* Centericq
* eBuddy
* Empathy
* Fire
* Instantbird
* Jitsi
* Kopete
* Messages/iChat
* Miranda IM
* Nimbuzz
* Pidgin
* QIP 2010
* Skype for Business
* Trillian
* Telepathy
* Upptalk

XMPP (Jabber)|

* Bombus
* ChatSecure
* Conversations
* Gajim
* Psi
* Tkabber
* Spark

MSNP|

* aMSN
* Skype

Defunct|

* List of defunct instant messaging platforms

See also|

* Backchannel
* Chat log
* Chatbot
* Contact list
* Emoticon
* File sharing
* Instant message service center
* LAN messenger
* Messaging apps
* Presence information
* Shoutbox
* SMS language
* Status message
* Videotelephony
* Voice over IP
* Webcam
* U-Report
* Web chat
* Circuit
* FirstClass
* Flock
* Fuze Box
* Glip
* Hall.com
* Yammer

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