Discord Begins Revised Global Age-Verification Rollout
publishers 5articles 5first reported 23 Sep, 20:05 UTCdeveloping since 24 Sep · 6 editions
Discord began rolling out a global age-verification system Thursday that automatically estimates users’ ages and asks some users to confirm they are adults before accessing age-restricted content. The rollout is expected to take several days to reach all accounts.
The system classifies users as adults aged 18 or older, teenagers aged 13 to 17, or “unconfirmed” when Discord lacks enough information to determine an age group. ExtremeTech reported that Discord will use account activity in its automatic assessments. Discord estimates that more than 90% of users will not be asked to verify their age.
Teen accounts will have age-restricted servers, channels and bot commands blocked. Sensitive images will be blurred or blocked, while message requests from non-friends will be separated for review. Teenagers will also receive alerts about some friend requests, and their full profile details will have more limited visibility.
Discord revised an earlier plan that would have required ID uploads or facial age estimation for users seeking restricted content. The company changed course following privacy-related user backlash and said adults incorrectly classified as teenagers or unconfirmed will have several ways to verify their age.
Concerns had also been heightened by a 2025 breach in which hackers stole government IDs belonging to 70,000 Discord users from a third-party service used for age verification in the UK and Australia, according to Ars Technica.
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