The checkmark should be removed from the in-client APP flair

[TwilightZebby]

Yes I know, this is probably gonna be a bit of a hot/controversial suggestion, but hear me out 😅

Ever since the Bot/App Verification system was made to be easy-to-do & automated, it has caused a massive increase in malicious Bots taking advance of the checkmark to trick less knowledgeable Users into falling for phishing/etc scams to steal accounts and/or Servers.
This is still seen today, and only seems to be a problem getting worse.

Common examples of such scams abusing the checkmark include fake "verification gates" for Server entry, "you won Discord Nitro" or "false system message" scam DMs, etc.

That, coupled with the fact that the checkmark is functionally meaningless for the average User now¹, has made me think it's time to fully remove the ✔️ checkmark that displays in-client for verified Bots on Discord.

I know this won't fully stop the safety issues caused by the checkmark², but I believe it would help a decent amount. At the very least, it'll reduce the amount of less-knowledgeable Users blindly believing "checkmark = safe" only to fall for a scam bot.

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As an extension of this suggestion: The "verified" terminology could be re-thought too.

This is since the act of 'verifying' Bots is now purely for developer-facing stuff (ability to add to Discovery, ability to enable Monetization, etc), and no longer a signal that Discord cites the Bot as trustworthy (due to no longer being manually approved).

One potentional idea for this is to rename from "Verified bots/apps" to "Affiliated bots/apps"³.

Footnotes

1. Previously, the checkmark did have a User-facing function in signalling the Bot was approved by Discord. Now, since the system is automated, this no longer holds true anymore. However, the average User isn't aware of this and thus, still believes "verified checkmark = safe". ↩

2. It is just one big cat-and-mouse game afterall. Sadly. :c ↩

3. Fine yes I took the name idea from Twitch. I couldn't think of anything better! ↩

[IamSmeagol]

I have seen this first hand. I spend a lot of time on Discord 😅 but not as often on the api side of things and was shocked when a clone of another bot was verified. (Using the same profile picture, status, about me, same commands and replies, etc). I only recently learned that the current verified check-mark is automated and still have a hard time not viewing it as a symbol of a reputable application. Since the verification system is automated and could allow dangerous bots to seem safe, I don't think the check marks should be present

[Epicinver]

i think it might confuse a lot of people but its not a bad idea! maybe bots that have been verified for years and are used in 100's of thousands of servers could keep the checkmark (e. g. Dyno, Carl-bot, MEE6, etc.)