Discord is changing its policy so that conversations from large public servers can be discovered through search engines, including Google, a shift that has raised privacy concerns among users whose discussions had previously stayed inside the platform’s ecosystem.
The policy applies to Discoverable Servers, which Discord defines as communities with at least 1,000 members that are listed in its public directory and do not require an invitation to join.
Web pages start on Nov. 16, searchable messages follow in mid-December
Discord said Tuesday that every Discoverable Server will have a web page from Nov. 16. Those pages may include summaries of discussions from public channels. From mid-December, individual messages posted in eligible channels may also appear in web search results.
Messages posted before the rollout will not be included. Discord also said usernames and avatars will be excluded from published messages.
Discord says useful information has been locked inside servers
According to Discord, the migration of online communities from message boards to Discord servers has made useful answers harder to find. The company said, 「This has led to valuable information being locked in Discord conversations, inaccessible to the wider internet. We want to fix this.」
The change has drawn criticism from users who do not want their conversations reaching audiences outside the communities they had in mind, even if those servers are public.
Others welcomed the move. In Discord’s announcement thread, one user called it 「very much necessary,」 while another said that moving communities from forums to Discord had made discussions harder to find through search.
Crypto communities may also be affected
The update could affect cryptocurrency communities that use Discord for technical discussions, support and project announcements.
Cointelegraph found nearly 800 servers tagged 「cryptocurrency」 in Discord’s public directory, around 1,400 tagged 「trading」 and more than 700 tagged 「finance.」 Discord said the platform has more than 63,000 discoverable servers in total.
Users can opt out before the message-sharing rollout
Users have until the message-sharing rollout begins in mid-December to opt out before their posts become eligible to appear online. Discord said the feature will be disabled by default for users in Australia, the European Union, the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil and South Korea. Teen users will also be excluded.
To opt out, users can go to User Settings > Data & Privacy and switch off 「Show my message content from Discoverable channels on web pages.」 Discord said that setting applies across every Discoverable Server a user belongs to.
Users can also disable the feature after launch, but that only protects messages sent after the opt-out takes effect. If a user wants an eligible message removed, the message must be deleted from Discord. The company also warned that search engines may keep cached copies for some time.
Server admins can block channels or entire servers from appearing
Server administrators can stop messages from individual channels or entire servers from appearing on public web pages and in search results through Server Settings > Web Presence.
They can also disable discussion summaries separately. Discord said those summaries are scheduled to begin rolling out in November.