In a brand new assertion, Discord CTO Stanislav Vishnevskiy clarifies that 90% of worldwide customers will be capable to proceed to make use of Discord as they all the time have. The Discord customers who might want to authenticate their age are those that each entry age-restricted content material and whom Discord’s inner system can not confirm as adults. The assertion additionally publicizes that the worldwide age verification on the platform has been delayed from March to someday within the second half of 2026.
This isn’t the primary time Discord has tried to vary the narrative. Discord posted a press release on X earlier in February clarifying that the majority Discord customers is not going to should confirm their age.
Users have raised considerations about third-party contractors which Discord may use to confirm age. A hack attacking service supplier 5CA in October 2025 leaked hundreds of UK IDs. Moreover, Discord’s partnership with verification service Persona drew criticism, as a result of Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel’s backing. The assertion makes an attempt to assuage a few of these considerations, saying that each third-party vendor should bear a safety and privateness overview earlier than Discord will accomplice with them.
Vishnevskiy says, “We’ve set a brand new bar for any accomplice providing facial age estimation, together with that it have to be carried out fully on-device, which means your biometric knowledge by no means leaves your cellphone. Persona didn’t meet that bar.” The assertion additional guarantees that Discord will supply a number of verification choices and transparency regarding every of these choice’s knowledge assortment and privateness insurance policies. Nevertheless, the place Discord has authorized obligations to offer age verification, just like the UK and Brazil, it would proceed to take action.
Discord is about to deal with lingering questions, like which security options unverified customers will probably be unable to show off and the way precisely its personal age verification program works with out mining consumer knowledge, in a future technical weblog publish. The corporate will even disclose nameless knowledge on the variety of customers requested to confirm their age, which strategies they selected, and the way typically its inner verification labored to forestall consumer motion.
The assertion concludes with Vishnevskiy acknowledging error and promising to do higher. He says, “We have made errors. I will not faux we have not. And I do know that being a much bigger firm now means our errors have greater penalties and erode belief quicker. I do not count on one weblog publish to repair that. Belief is earned by way of actions over time: transport the issues we promised, proudly owning it after we miss the mark, and providing you with actual management over your personal expertise.”