Discord Delays Age Checks After User Backlash
Discord has postponed plans to introduce mandatory age verification for all users following widespread criticism from its community.
The platform’s co-founder and chief technology officer, Stanislav Vishnevskiy, said the global rollout – initially scheduled for March – has been pushed to the second half of the year. The proposed system is aimed at identifying users under the age of 16.
In a blog post published on Tuesday, Vishnevskiy acknowledged the backlash, saying the company underestimated how controversial the move would be. He said Discord should have been clearer about how the verification process would work and what data would be collected.
Discord said it remains committed to complying with age-related legal requirements in various countries and confirmed that age verification will still be introduced in the future. However, the company said it is now exploring alternative methods that would not require facial scans or government-issued ID uploads, with credit card verification among the options being developed.
According to Vishnevskiy, fewer than 10% of users are expected to undergo verification when the system eventually launches. Until their age is confirmed, affected users would be restricted from accessing age-sensitive content and placed under default safety settings.
Discord currently relies on an internal age-estimation system that analyses account-related signals such as account age, payment history and server activity. The company stressed that this process does not involve reading messages or analysing user conversations. In response to concerns, Discord said it will publish details of this methodology before rolling out age verification.
The platform, which reports about 200 million monthly users, said the policy shift comes amid tightening regulations on youth access to social media in regions including the UK, the EU, Australia and Brazil, as well as proposed rules in several US states.
User trust has also been affected by recent security incidents. In October, images from a previous age-verification programme involving about 70,000 users were reportedly exposed during a cyber-attack. Separately, researchers recently flagged data exposure issues linked to a third-party verification firm previously tested by Discord in the UK. The company said that partnership has ended and reiterated that no images will be stored when a new system is deployed.
Discord, which rose to prominence as a hub for online gaming communities and private group discussions, has seen a sharp increase in teenage users since the pandemic. Vishnevskiy said balancing user privacy with safety and regulatory compliance remains one of the platform’s biggest challenges going forward.
