Beginning in March, all Discord customers shall be switched to a “teen-appropriate expertise” except they will confirm that they are an grownup. The social platform is implementing age verification protocols which will ask customers for facial scans or identification paperwork, a coverage examined in the UK and Australia starting final 12 months.
A press launch from Discord explains that the age verification course of could also be required to “change sure settings or entry delicate content material,” together with “age-restricted channels, servers, or instructions and choose message requests.” The worldwide rollout of this protocol will arrive months after a hack affected tens of millions of Discord customers and uncovered age verification-related knowledge. Discord mentioned that it partnered with a special third-party vendor for age verification after the information breach.
Discord will quickly be increasing teen security protections worldwide together with teen-by-default settings and age assurance designed to create safer experiences for teenagers.
We’re additionally launching recruitment for Discord’s first Teen Council, creating an area for teen voices to assist form… pic.twitter.com/CW7G4sO38R— Discord Assist (@discord_support) February 9, 2026copy
On Discord’s finish, the corporate guarantees that its “age assurance” approaches will shield person privateness, saying that video selfies, which AI will use to estimate a person’s age, won’t ever depart their machine, and that any id paperwork customers submit shall be deleted instantly after their age is confirmed.
Discord additionally said that the platform’s “age inference mannequin” runs within the background and may decide a person’s age with out verification, using metadata resembling video games that customers play and different behavioral patterns. Some folks could also be required to make use of a number of age verification strategies “if extra data is required to assign an age group,” although it’s unclear what sort of instances will immediate this.
Regardless of Discord’s pledge for knowledge privateness, it is onerous to not blame anybody for being skeptical of the company–or any main tech firm, for that matter–to safely and responsibly use the information it obtains from customers. Addressing the truth that customers might wish to depart the platform in response to those new insurance policies, Discord mentioned to The Verge that the corporate will “discover different methods” to deliver them again.
When these age verification insurance policies rolled out within the UK, some tricked the platform’s facial scans utilizing Loss of life Stranding 2’s picture mode. Discord informed The Verge that the workaround was rapidly fastened, however the firm expects customers will attempt different artistic workarounds.