Discord comes with new safety features that should better protect young people

Discord announced a number of measures on Thursday to better protect underage users against malicious users and harmful content. Two of those features, an automated alert system and filters, will be rolled out soon.

The messaging platform provides more information about the two functions in a blog post. With the warning system, the user will see an automatic warning if he or she is contacted by an unknown user. The message asks the young person if he is sure he wants to contact the other user. The prompt also shows how to block users and provides other security tips.

The filter system automatically blurs all sensitive images. The filter is automatically enabled for underage users, both on servers and in private messages. Sensitive images sent by strangers are also automatically deleted by Discord. The young person can cancel the filter by clicking on the blurred image and choosing to disable the filter completely via the settings. Adult users can enable the harmful and sensitive images filter for their own accounts if they do not want to see it.

Discord also comes with another warning system, which sends users a warning if they do not adhere to the terms and conditions of the platform. The window shows which rules the user has broken and the consequences. Only for ‘extreme violations’ will users be permanently banned. The violations are tracked in a new tab called Account Standing.