Discord clamps down on hate groups
Gaming chat and text app blocks alt-right server and bans users
The popular gaming chat app Discord has cracked down on far right and hate groups, shutting down the altright.com group's server on the platform.
The alright.com Discord channel is infamously hateful, right wing and popular, and as of the recent action by the platform holder an unconfirmed number of the server's users have also been banned. The company's reasoning was described in a tweet titled, ""Love. Not hate."
In a statement issued to Polygon, Discord CEO Jason Citron said: "Discord was built to bring people together through a love of gaming and our mission is to connect positive communities who share this appreciation. We unequivocally condemn white supremacy, neo-Nazism, or any other group, term, ideology that is based on these beliefs."
Citron also confirmed that the crackdown was ongoing, and that Discord would continue to take an "aggressive" approach to banning users and keeping the app in line with its original community vision.
Citron founded Discord in 2012, having sold his previous technology, OpenFeint, to Gree for $104 million. In June this year, at a point when Discord courted 45 million registered users and 9 million daily active users, it was confirmed that the platform had raised some $50 million in funding.
Demonstrating its clout in the increasingly thriving gaming social network and streaming sector, which has exploded in tandem with eSports, Discord earlier this year hired Twitch veteran Andy Swanson to be its new head of publisher relations.