Discord will soon require users worldwide to verify their age before accessing adult content. Users must confirm their age with a face scan or upload an official ID document. The chat platform says it has more than 200 million monthly users.
The company says the new safety measures will place everyone into a teen-appropriate experience by default. Discord already requires age checks in the UK and Australia to comply with safety laws. It will expand the system globally from early March.
Savannah Badalich, Discord’s policy head, said teen safety remains a top priority. She added that teen-by-default settings strengthen protections while allowing verified adults more flexibility.
Default rules will limit content and messaging
Discord says the default settings will restrict what users can see and how they communicate. Only verified adults will access age-restricted communities and unblur sensitive material.
Users will also lose the ability to see direct messages from unknown users unless they complete age verification. Drew Benvie, head of social media consultancy Battenhall, called the move toward safer communities positive. He warned the rollout could face challenges across millions of communities.
He said Discord could lose users if age verification backfires. He added that stronger safety standards could attract new users who value safer platforms.
Discord will estimate age using account and activity data
Discord said it will use inference tools to identify users likely to be adults. Badalich said most adults will not need manual verification. She said the system will analyze account tenure, device data, activity patterns, and aggregated community signals.
She said Discord will not access private messages or message content during the process.
Privacy concerns and prior data breaches
Users can upload an ID photo or record a video selfie for AI-based age estimation. Discord said it will not store information used for age checks. Face scans will not be collected, and ID uploads will be deleted after verification.
Privacy campaigners warned such methods could threaten personal privacy. Discord faced criticism in October after hackers potentially exposed ID photos of around 70,000 users. A third-party verification firm suffered the breach.
Public listing plans and regulatory pressure
The announcement followed reports in early January that Discord explored a public share offering. The company also launched a teen advisory council as part of its safety strategy.
Discord now mirrors platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Roblox with similar teen safety measures. Benvie said other social networks will watch closely how users respond to Discord’s rollout.
Social platforms introduced many teen protections due to pressure from lawmakers. Discord CEO Jason Citron faced intense questioning about child safety at a US Senate hearing in 2024, alongside leaders from Meta, Snap, and TikTok.
