Subreddit r/Pokémon Discord is one of the larger online meeting venue for players and fans of the hit Nintendo series. It boasts over 300,000 users who use it to fight, trade, or just hang out between work, class, or whatever else is going on in their lives. And this week, its owner was banned from the platform following allegations that he had sex with underage users.
Content warning: The following article deals with grooming, child pornography, and other predatory behaviors.
Since its creation in 2015, r/Pokémon Discord has served as an important meeting place for players in the series with the most recent release, Pokémon Scarlet And purpleis from Nintendo Switch Best selling game ever. The Discord server is unofficial, which means it’s not moderated by Nintendo or the Pokémon Company and is also open to players 13 and under, although there’s no safety check that would prevent younger users from creating Discord account.
The primary administrator of r/Pokémon Discord is a user called technophønix. However, it was not until this past December that alleged screenshots showed technophønix soliciting child pornography from minors on a server and attempting to meet them for sex for the first time. reported to other Discord mods. They said they opened a request with Discord to investigate the matter immediately, but it was not until February 2, over a month later, that Discord finally removed him from the server and banned him permanently. its service.
A Discord spokesperson said: “While we continually invest heavily in technological advancements and tools for proactive CSAM detection and grooming, we also rely on our moderators and users. Discord to submit a report, which we will review and investigate on an escalation basis.” Kotaku in a statement. “Due to the volume of reports we investigate, it is currently not our policy to provide regular updates or communication on the status of these investigations and any related actions. However, in this case, we can confirm that the review of this report followed standard procedure and the user in question has been permanently banned.”
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An r/Pokémon Discord mod who goes by the nick Cell was the one who originally reported the allegations to Discord. They told Kotaku the first evidence of child grooming and predatory behavior was first reported to them on December 16. An official report was then sent via a support ticket to Discord’s Trust and Safety team on December 17. The only response Cell received was around January 11 when a Discord rep told them the matter was still under investigation. It wasn’t until February 2 that Cell and the rest of the mods finally received confirmation from Discord that technophønix had been banned.
The things he’s accused of were exhaustively detailed in a Google Document prepared by Cell and others, including some alleged screenshots of disturbing Discord chats in which technophønix repeatedly requested photos of user-related sexual acts which Cell and others say were minors at the time. In some screenshots, technophønix even talks about taking them to his home or trying to travel to meet them. The alleged screenshots date from early 2016 and most recently 2020, and include exchanges in which technophønix appeared to defend child pornography and statutory rape based on on the age of the victim.
Kotaku asked technophønix for comment on Discord prior to the ban but did not receive an immediate response. In screenshots of chats with mods after he comes face-to-face, technophønix claims to not know the people he’s talking to are minors, saying he’s not looking for them via the r server. /Pokémon Discord and that certain comments are considered jokes or fabrications. while he was drunk.
After the allegations first surfaced, Cell said Kotaku technophønix initially “complied” with their call for him to leave Discord and transfer control of it to other administrators. But when the handover never came, Cell and the others broke up to form a new Discord on January 30, and attempted to inform new and existing users of the allegations and demands. request to join the new server. Meanwhile, messages on the old Discord server about technophønix are said to have been deleted, leaving many members confused and confused about what was going on.
“We pinged everyone and the server went into total chaos after that,” Cell said. Kotaku. “[technophønix] removed the initial message, locked the whole server (meaning no one could send messages in the server), started kicking people off the server and finally after almost an hour he told us that he was ready to make terms with us regarding the server.”
However, that became moot when Discord finally stepped in. “We’re sorry you’ve seen this type of content, and we understand it can be concerning and stressful to report,” a representative from Discord’s Safety & Trust team wrote in an email. February 2 responded to the original request. “We are incredibly grateful that you provided this information and for supporting us in our efforts to keep Discord as secure as possible.”
Cell and other mods spent the day trying to get official ownership of the original r/Pokémon Discord server, which turned into another mini roller coaster ride. While Cell and other administrators had the right to unlock the initial server when it was ready, Discord initially told them that they could not transfer ownership of the server belonging to the deactivated account. About 10 hours later, another company representative asked them to ignore the previous notice and that ownership would be transferred immediately “depending on the circumstances”.
Discord refuses to answer any questions when Kotaku put out your hand.
Company was tested last year when it was revealed that the person responsible for the mass shootings in Buffalo, New York used it to share the plan that led to the massacre. Social media platforms and the gaming community in general have faced criticism for not investing more resources in censor the spread of extremist groups and ideologies online. However, protecting minors from sexual predators is an even more fundamental safety issue.
A Discord spokesperson said: “Safety is vital to our work at Discord, and we protect all Discord users, especially our younger users, extremely. serious”. Kotaku. “We work tirelessly to remove content that is harmful to children from our services and take action when we become aware of it, including banning users, shutting down servers, and when liked. appropriate, engaging with the appropriate authorities.”
Adjustment 02/03/2023 4:28 p.m. ET: Fixed incorrect time of mod group submit a support ticket.
