Chat app Discord now on eSafetys hit list ahead of big tech meet

Australia’s eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant’s boardroom blitz of US tech titans in Silicon Valley next week will include the online platform on everyone’s lips — Discord.

The youth-favourite chat app was allegedly used by Charlie Kirk’s suspected 22-year-old killer Tyler Robinson — even to post a confession — and helped fuel Gen Z-led political unrest in Nepal last week.

A Discord virtual poll had allowed Nepal’s young anti-corruption protesters to choose former Chief Justice Sushila Karki as interim leader.

By definition the gamer-designed app won’t be included in Australia’s world-first under-16s social media ban, due to start on December 10.

While popular platforms Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube will all be included — standalone messaging and online gaming apps are excluded under the legislative rules.

The eSafety Commission has launched further reviews of the grey-zone platforms, such Discord, which aren’t explicitly covered.

It comes as Ms Inman Grant on Monday revealed online gaming platform Roblox had agreed to enhance age checks and safety protocols.

Ms Inman Grant flagged in her June National Press Club address that apps would be subject to ongoing monitoring and assessment as many evolved beyond their initial function — often by adding new features like AI chatbots.

While the eSafety Commission has published guidelines for Discord on its website, linking parents, carers and teachers to advice, it’s yet to definitively announce if it will be included in the restrictions.

While cautious about the ban, Australian National University law associate professor Faith Gordon expressed concerns over children on addictive gaming apps with chat features.

“I have a big concern about gaming. It’s not included in the social media ban but in research I’ve done, there’s been a lot of young people who have reported adults posing as children on gaming platforms. Grooming has gone on those spaces,” she said.

“It’s also quite linked to gambling in many ways, because the way in which the games are designed can really induce these sort of addictive behaviours within children.

“I do not agree with the social media ban, I don’t think it’s the right approach but I do think that gaming needs to be looked into. It certainly has been off the discussion agenda.”

Alongside Apple and yet-to-be-confirmed meetings with Google and Meta, Ms Inman Grant will also visit artificial intelligence firms including OpenAI, Anthropic and Character AI.

As Ms Inman Grant flies to America’s west coast, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will head east to the UN General Assembly with Communications Minister Anika Wells.

The duo will discuss their world-first social media reform with other leaders, many of who are looking to see how the ban is rolled out and if it can be emulated.

Along with New Zealand and France, the EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week announced she would be a close observer.

The ban has angered the US tech sector, who have lobbied the Trump administration to pressure Australia.

If EU nations also decide at the upcoming New York meeting to adopt a similar measure, it may soften the backlash on Australia by major tech firms.

The recent shooting death of Kirk — a conservative MAGA supporter and friend of Donald Trump — at a Utah university has thrust the role of social media back into the spotlight for the US President.

After telling a White House press briefing overnight that Kirk’s killer had been “radicalised online”, Trump was asked “Do social media companies bear any responsibility for that?”.

Trump responded: “Somebody has to bear some responsibility.”

“He went bad and he just went bad very quickly in a sense because he sort of led a very normal life. A life of, you know, great education, schools and everything else. But somewhere along the line something happened.”

In Australia, the ban has bipartisan support but Coalition and Greens MPs have raised concerns about how it will be enforced.

Under the ban, platforms can’t have a blanket approach to age verification or compel people to use their government ID to prove their age online. They must offer “reasonable alternatives”.

Shadow Communications Minister Melissa McIntosh welcomed further online regulation of children, however, raised doubts about those assurances around the use of government IDs.

“In the report that was released today, it does show that if all other measures fail, we could get to a stage where people do need to show some form of digital ID,” Ms McIntosh told Sky News on Tuesday.

The Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young labelled the ban a “farce” and said the Government should instead be moving to enforce their flagged-but-yet-to-be-enacted digital duty of care.

She also pushed for the Government to prohibit tech firms targeting minors with advertising and dangerous algorithms.

The eSafety commission was asked to explain what action it would take on Discord but failed to respond by The Nightly’s deadline.

The Albanese Government released regulatory guidance on Tuesday to help tech firms understand how they need to comply or risk facing fines of up to almost $50 million.

Key expectations include spotting and closing accounts for children under 16, stopping them from creating new ones, offering review options and monitoring activity continuously.