Discord, a popular chat platform, has introduced a new tool called 'Family Center' to facilitate better communication between teens and their parents or guardians while respecting the teens' autonomy. The aim is to keep parents informed about their teens' Discord activity without compromising their privacy.
In a blog post, Discord stated that the Family Center tool is designed to provide parents with insights similar to those they have about their teens' friends and activities in offline settings. By enabling parents to learn more about their teens' friends and connections on Discord, the platform aims to encourage productive discussions about internet safety and create opportunities for parents and teens to connect over online experiences.
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The tool consists of two primary components. The first is an activity dashboard that parents can access within Discord at any time. This dashboard provides a comprehensive view of their teen's Discord activity. The second component is a weekly email summary that offers high-level information about the teen's overall activity on the platform.
Teen accounts connected to parents via the tool will only share information with parental consent. Parents can access this information through the in-app dashboard. The data shared includes the number of users their teens have messaged or called, the number of new friends they have added, and the active participation in Discord servers.
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However, the company ensured that parents will not have access to the content of conversations their teens have had with others. This ensures that the privacy of the teen users is maintained while still providing parents with valuable insights into their teens' overall Discord activity.
In June 2022, the company introduced AutoMod, an automated keyword filter designed to assist moderators in identifying and blocking harmful messages and threats within servers or voice messages.
With AutoMod, even when moderators are not actively monitoring, the tool steps in by automatically detecting and blocking flagged content. It also sends an alert to the moderator, who can review the flagged message once they return.
