Discord is making public chats searchable on Google: How to opt out
Discord conversations on large public servers will soon reach audiences far beyond their communities, raising privacy concerns.
Discord plans to make conversations from its largest public chat servers searchable on Google, sparking privacy concerns among users. The company is implementing this policy change for Discoverable Servers - communities with over 1,000 members that do not require an invitation. Starting November 16, web pages will feature summaries of public channel discussions from these servers.
From mid-December, individual messages in eligible channels may appear in web search results. However, messages posted before the rollout, usernames, and avatars will not be included. Discord claims this move aims to make useful answers more accessible across the internet, as online communities shifted from forums to its servers.
While some welcomed the change, others expressed concerns over their conversations reaching audiences beyond their intended communities. The feature will initially be disabled in Australia, the EU, the European Economic Area, the UK, Canada, Brazil, and South Korea, as well as for teen users. To opt out, users must disable "Show my message content from Discoverable channels on web pages" in their Discord settings. Server admins can also control which messages appear on public web pages through Server Settings.
Written by urgent.news from Cointelegraph's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
