Online chat platform Discord is going to take over Sentropy. The latter specializes in AI software to detect and combat online hate and bullying.
Discord once started as a communication platform specifically for gamers, has been using a moderator system for some time to prevent abuse on its servers. It employs a team of moderate employees, but individual servers also rely on volunteer admins and moderators to keep conversations in line.
With Sentropy, an AI leg will soon be added. Discord says it is integrating the AI company’s existing toolkit. Sentropy bosses also get a job at the chat service. Discord won’t say how much it paid for Sentropy, but it does indicate that it takes online bullying seriously.
The service allows anyone to create a chat and audio server for friends and has thus become a kind of unofficial platform for gamer groups and a lot of fan communities. It claims to be home to some 19 million communities and now has 150 million monthly active users.
However, Discord has also dealt with violent groups in the past. For example, the agency tightened its rules on hate and extremism after the far-right Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, US, which left one dead. In the meantime, it would have banned many extremist groups and now seems to be starting the fight in a more automated way.
