TLDR: Send an email to arbitration-opt-out@discord.com using the email associated with your Discord account. For good measure, add your username. Template below!

(btw, i'm not a lawyer and i'm not your representative)

Update: Want to opt out of arbitration for more services? I'm building a collection of arbitration opt-out templates here: github.com/lynnpepin/arbitration-opt-out-templates. Check them out and let me know what you think.

You can opt out of Discord's arbitration clause by sending them an email

Send an email to arbitration-opt-out@discord.com, from the email address you use for your account, stating you wish to opt out of the arbitration clause. For good measure, I recommend adding your account ID!

Here's a template you can use! It's the email I wrote. Go ahead and fill in your email and username below.

To Discord,

I am declining the agreement to arbitrate and I am declining the class-action waiver in the new Discord Terms of Service.

I am sending this from my email ✨email here✨, associated with my account ✨username here✨.

Specifically, I am referring to the new Discord terms of service posted at https://discord.com/terms on 2023 February 24, effective 2023 March 27. I am opting out of the arbitration clause, and I am stating my disagreement to the class-action waivers, per section 14 "Settling disputes between you and Discord"

Best regards,

✨signature here too✨.

Of course, please note that I am not a lawyer and I am not your representative!

You should do this every time Discord changes their Terms of Service. This is an unjust world, and you are your best advocate! Discord is not your friend! They've had bots which scrape your messages from private servers to share them publicly (since 2019 or earlier), they've had white supremacist Trump supporters organize deadly movements using Discord and commit mass shootings (2017, 2018, 2019), 2022, etc. You should reserve your right to sue if they mistreat you.

my personal opinions about arbitration

TLDR: A forced arbitration clause is when a company says, "Hey, if you have a problem with us, you can't sue us. Sorry sucker! Instead, you have to go through arbitration. Kind of like Judge Judy, except it's not fun, and we get to pick the Judge Judy. We almost always win." You usually can't even join a class action lawsuit if you've signed one of these bad boys.

Forced arbitration clauses in the US are a tactic used by corporations which ask you to sign away your right to sue in court, and instead, go through an "arbitrator" of the corporations choosing. This is entirely against your best interest.

Corporations started testing the legal waters with these "arbitration clauses" years ago. Unfortunately, these clauses were regularly held up by courts of law. This has emboldened companies to create increasingly restrictive arbitration clauses that increasingly restrict your right to sue. It has gotten worse with the Trump administration and the far-right conservative US Supreme Court.

Arbitration clauses are here to stay. Arbitration clauses are regularly enforced in the courts of law, and are not in your favor. You owe it to yourself to defend yourself from these whenever you can.

You can learn more at epi.org here, here, and here.. Some key takeaways:

  • The average consumer pays $7,725 in arbitration.
    • This is from 2017 and not adjusted for inflation.
  • Consumers (you) win in arbitration 21% of the time versus 57% in a real court of law.
    • This is sourced from 2015, before the Trump administration and the Trump-appointees to the Supreme Court. The win rate is likely much lower now in 2023.
  • When consumers win in arbitration, they receive on average $24K in damages, down from $328K.
    • That is a 13.7x decrease.
    • This is also sourced from 2015. This disparity likely much greater now in 2023.

My stance is this: Nobody should ever agree to arbitration. Every person with a Discord account should opt out.