Discord announced earlier in the week that its iOS users won’t be able to access NSFW channels. Previously, entire servers or specific channels can be designated NSFW to prevent users under 18 from getting in. Now, even adults will not be able to access such servers on devices running the Apple mobile operating system. The exceptions here are if you run an affected server, or you access such channels on general servers.
And this is specifically an iOS thing. Nothing has changed for Android or Windows users, or even if you use discord via a browser. A Discord spokesperson said that this is “to comply with Apple’s policies”.
Overall, it’s a strange situation for Discord. It does sound quite arbitrary that adult users are prevented from accessing, well, adult servers via iOS. But then they remain free to do so via the web version of the app, presumably via the Safari browser. A former Tumblr developer is drawing parallels between the two.
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.
— mb (@mb) April 13, 2021
So far, there’s no sign that Discord will be expanding this odd ban to other platforms. And while the company says it is adhering to the iPhone maker’s policies, it remains to be seen if there are ways to do so without ironically barring adults from viewing adult content.
(Source: Mashable)
