On February 9, Disharmony announced that it would roll out its controversial age verification measures to all users around the world starting in early March. Discord claimed the upcoming move would improve age-appropriate protection while maintaining user privacy, adding that the global rollout would happen in phases.
In the years since its launch in 2015, Discord has become the go-to voice and text communication app for gamers worldwide. Along with hosting servers for player-run groups to gather, Discord is also used by some game developers to communicate with their audience and answer questions from players. Discord is widely available on all modern devices, including desktop and mobile apps that are constantly updated with new features and bug fixes. While not all of Discord's features have been a hit with users, that hasn't stopped it from continuing to evolve over time.
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Discord to launch controversial age verification measure globally
Soon, all Discord users will soon be affected by a change that had previously been introduced in specific parts of the world. Discord announced in a blog post that starting in early March, all users would be set to “teen by default” status as part of an age verification safeguard. In 2025, Discord launched similar age verification measures in the UK and Australia to comply with laws passed in those countries. Once the fix is implemented, all new and existing Discord users will be given new default settings that filter out certain pieces of content, including server-specific channels and features marked with an age restriction warning.
Discord users can turn off this setting by submitting a face scan or some form of identification to their resellers. This can be done using on-device processing via Discord's desktop or mobile apps, and the process would only need to be done once for Discord to tailor its user experience to the correct age group. However, some users may be prompted to submit more information via multiple methods if necessary.
However, Discord's age verification measures in the UK proved unpopular with users. Additionally, Discord's age verification technology was thwarted by clever users who used Death Strandings photo feature to bypass the system. In response, Discord switched vendors and stated that the upcoming action would not store any submitted documents for an extended period of time. Discord said that any “identity documents sent to our vendor partners are quickly deleted.” It is currently unknown which vendor partner DIscord has chosen for its age verification measures.
Discord's shaky history with user data
The response to Discord's age verification announcement has been largely negative on social media, with some users saying they would cancel their Discord Nitro subscriptions over the move. In addition, some users expressed concern about how Discord would handle all the data collected during the age verification process and pointed out Discord's history of consumer data breaches. In October 2025, Discord confirmed that a third-party customer service agency was hacked, and that usernames, limited billing information, and even IP addresses were among the sensitive data included in the breach. Discord stated that it stopped the affected third-party platform from accessing further records and contacted affected users via email.
As of this writing, users can send feedback about the age verification measure to Discord via its official website and social media pages. As Discord reportedly resumed its continued efforts for an initial public offering (IPO), the timing of the rollout of age verification was also pointed out by social media users. As negative feedback continues to be sent in response to the age verification measure, it remains to be seen if the popular communications app will reverse course, or if Discord will continue with its planned launch.
