Clicking an external link exposes your IP address to the server. All someone has to do is send a link that looks like something you want but actually just logs your ip address and you’re doxxed.
I know there's been several news items regarding file changes to links within discord, like
Link Expiration,
file size increase for free users, and all i found from a quick search was this reddit post talking about how their file wasnt deleted, but the link directs to discord saying "This content is no longer available."
I don't know how long it is, but to wether or not it was removed by discord, or file expired, im not sure