Discord Follows Up With Response to Age Verification Backlash, Maintains ID Check

Discord has published a long response to user concerns and backlash following the news that the platform is instituting age verifications in order to access servers and settings outside of its ‘teen-by-default’ experience.

This week, Discord announced that all global users will be moved into the teen-by-default settings by early March. In a supposed effort to protect younger users, Discord is requiring users to pass an age verification system, which requires users to provide an ID or a video selfie. This new system was first rolled out in the UK and Australia. However, it’s now destined to hit Canada, the US and other markets. In turn, this spun a ton of backlash amongst its audience. Many users state they are cancelling their Discord Nitro subscription or shutting down their account in fear that the new policy breaches security.

Discord has now posted a response on X (formerly Twitter), stating that it has “seen some questions about our age assurance update and we want to share more clarity.” The company says that the “vast majority” of users will not require age verification, as most do not enroll in age-restricted servers. The new policy also impacts those who modify safety settings like the default blur effect on explicit images.

“The vast majority of people can continue using Discord exactly as they do today, without ever being asked to confirm their age,” the company says “In a minority of cases when additional confirmation is required, we offer multiple privacy-forward options through trusted partners.”

“You must be a confirmed adult to access age-restricted content and experiences such as age-restricted servers and channels or to modify certain safety settings,” Discord continued. “The majority of Discord users don’t access age restricted content and will never go through a facial age estimation flow or ID verification. In the minority of cases where we cannot confirm you as an adult and you need to access age-restricted areas and settings, then you will be asked to go through additional steps.”

Discord goes on to state that it only asks to verify a user’s age if necessary. The company only receives your age if you provide an ID. However, an estimated age range is provided if the user chooses to submit a video selfie. If a user submits a video, Discord claims that the selfie is processed locally and not uploaded to Discord or any third-party age verification system.

The company is also leveraging AI to assist in age verification. Using an existing “advanced machine learning model,” Discord is able to detect user behaviour, such as their play history, to help infer the age of a user.

Quickly, the post on X was hit with a Community Note, highlighting the fact that Discord was the victim of a recent data breach. In October 2025, government ID information was stolen from a former Discord age verification vendor. Name, email, IP address, “limited” billing information, and contact details of thousands of users were leaked.

As of the latest post, there’s no word on whether Discord will delay the rollout of the new feature or if it is maintaining its plan to start in early March.