Created as an application for gamers, it gained a global dimension and became very popular with young people. In some cases, however, the privacy of conversations becomes a real risk and Discord has increasingly served to foster hate speeches, radicalization and even planning crimes.
Was born in 2015 as an application for gamersbut quickly became one of the most popular communication platforms among young people in the world. THE Discord Allows you to create private servers, exchange text or audio messages, share videos, play together or simply talk. It is a space where both gigantic communities and small groups of friends fit.
A malleability that has a less innocent side: The same closed and restricted access environment that protects users’ privacy can also serve as fertile ground for radicalization, hate speeches and even preparation of crimes. Because it has, after all, the name of this application emerged increasingly associated with police investigations?
DISCORD, a global phenomenon
The popularity of Discord – has More than 200 million active users worldwide – It is larger among adolescents and young adults (the minimum use of users is 13 years, despite the lack of verification methods), which sometimes seek a belongingfar from the eyes of parents, teachers or colleagues. For those who feel isolated, it can be a gateway to communities that offer welcome, but in some cases, They end up normalizing hate or violence speeches.
A closed structure of servers It is also a factor to take into account. Unlike social networks like Instagram or X, much of what happens in It’s not public, What makes not only Most Difficult Moderationhow it creates a “bubble effect” where extremist ideas circulate and reinforce themselves without contradictory. All this happens nA time when that, in certain cases, evolve to a standardization of extremist ideologies or even for the Real attack planning.
In addition, the existence of users who ‘invade’ conversation groupswhere they publish abusive, offensive, sexual violence or incitement to hatred.
Charlie Kirk’s murder rekindles the alerts
The name of the application returned this Monday to emerge associated with a fatal crimein the case of the death of the conservative and ally of Donald Trump, Charlie Kirk. This after the suspect of Kirk’s murder, Tyler Robinson, have allegedly .
“I have bad news for everyone. I was me at UVU [Universidade do Vale de Utah] yesterday. Sorry for all this. (…) Thanks for all the good times and laughs, they were amazing. Thanks to all for everything “Tyler wrote in a private group on the platform, which will have provided a copy of the messages to the US authorities.
When the problem knocked on the door in Portugal
The best known example is that of student at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbondetained in 2022. João Carreira was 18 years oldstudied computer engineering and was caught by the Judicial Police with an unlikely arsenal in the room: Catanas, a beast with arrows, knives and even flammable material.
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More recently, in 2024, The Judicial Police detained in Maia a 17 -year -old suspected of managing an extremist group on Discord. According to the accusation, , “Mikas” – so it was known – led the application a group titled “TheKiss”, what also operated in OnlyTok and no Telegram. O Objective was transmit violent content to raise the largest number of followers.
Among these followers was one young Brazilian whatem 2023, He went to the school he attended in sto the Paulo and fired at four students, tendo caused to death of onea girl with a shot in the neck.
What has done Discord to combat these phenomena?
In recent years, the social network has sought to show that it is not indifferent to the problem of extremism, create a team responsible for monitoring complaints, investigating suspicious behaviors and applying measures as accounts of accounts or closure of servers. Since 2017, when the It was used to organize a neo -NaIzi march in Charlottesville, thousands of extremist communities have already been banned.
In addition to the complaints of the users, Discord also began to act more proactively, using the Automatic tools and internal investigations to identify groups that promote hatred or violence. In parallel, collaborates with police authorities from various countriesproviding information whenever there is a court order or suspicion that a crime may be being prepared.
The company still publishes Transparency Reportswhere it disseminates suspensions and removals, and offers moderation tools to server administrators, such as word filters and denunciation systems.
