no sex please, we’re ios —
App Store rules seemingly lead to tighter restrictions for Apple users.
Kyle Orland
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Enlarge / This cute little pig has obviously seen some things that iOS users will no longer be allowed to see on Discord.
Discord users who access the Discord app through iOS will now face restrictions on adult content that go beyond those for other platforms. The gaming-focused social networking app—which lets users create public or private servers to chat via text, image, voice, and video livestreaming—announced this week that “all users on the iOS platform (including those aged 18+) will be blocked from joining and accessing NSFW servers. iOS users aged 18+ will still be able to join and access NSFW communities on the desktop and web versions of Discord.”
That NSFW designation can be set by the server owner or by Discord itself, in keeping with community guidelines requiring the label on “adult content.” Individual channels within a server can be designated as NSFW without imposing limits on the full server, but an entire server may be labeled as NSFW “if the community is organized around NSFW themes or if the majority of the server’s content is 18+,” the company said.
Discord has set up an appeals process for server owners to challenge an NSFW designation. Individual users can also contact Discord if they were accidentally identified as minors during an age-verification process. But that age change will still be meaningless on iOS, where users of all ages will be barred from NSFW content.
Discord didn’t specify why iOS users are being treated differently from those on other platforms, but Apple’s iOS Developer Guidelines say that apps with user-generated content “that end up being used primarily for pornographic content… do not belong on the App Store.” The guidelines allow for “incidental” NSFW content generated by users on web-based services if “the content is hidden by default and only displayed when the user turns it on via your website,” a caveat that apparently isn’t sufficient for Discord’s comfort.
Discord’s move follows Apple’s removal of the iOS Tumblr blogging app in 2018. At the time, Tumblr said that removal was due to “media featuring child sexual exploitation and abuse” that has slipped through its automated filters. Weeks later, though, Tumblr decided to ban all adult content from the service, a move that preceded a quick return to the iOS App Store.
Discord is using a lighter touch here, identifying and segregating NSFW content from iOS users rather than banning it altogether. Still, preventing adults from accessing adult content on one platform specifically seems like a counterintuitive way to stay in Apple’s good graces in this regard.
“Apple’s regressive stance on sexual content being available on its largest platform is verging on a full-on moral panic, and it’s really gross,” former Tumblr Product Manager Matthew Bischoff wrote on Twitter. “Entire businesses and communities have been crushed by it, and it often hurts queer and trans communities most. 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.”
Discord is reportedly in the late stages of acquisition talks—which could value the service at $10 billion—with Microsoft and other parties. The service has over 140 million monthly users and 300 million registered accounts.