Discord delays age verification measures as it admits what it got ‘wrong’

Discord announced Tuesday that it will delay the implementation of previously announced, but controversially received, age verification measures.

Earlier this month, Discord announced that “teen-by-default” settings would launch for all users next month, meaning users would have to verify their adulthood with the platform to use all of its features. The news was not received well by users, with some calling the verification requirements a “deal breaker.” Just two weeks later, Discord is now delaying the global rollout of that plan until the second half of 2026. An exact date has not been specified.

In a Tuesday blog post, Discord CTO and co-founder Stanislav Vishnevskiy says the company knew the initial announcement would end up being “controversial” and acknowledges the earned skepticism toward tech companies when it comes to facial ID software and the like. The blog notes that “over 90% of users will never need to verify their age to continue using Discord exactly as they do today. This is powered in part by our internal safety systems, which can already make an age determination for many adult users without any user action.”

It notes several ways Discords verifies user ages without the need for government of facial ID scans: “how long your account has existed, whether you have a payment method on file, what types of servers you’re in, and general patterns of account activity.” Discord stresses that the company does not read any of your messages, but acknowledges that asking for trust isn’t sufficient and that it will share its methods at a later date. (Trust in the company is already rocky after Discord was already connected to one security breach of user data last fall.)

Discord will continue with its age verification methods in countries where the law requires it, like Australia, Brazil, and the UK. It’s delaying the global rollout, however, until the second half of 2026. To ensure the global rollout is ready, Discord will add more verification options, like credit card verification.

Time will tell if Discord’s explanations and attempts at transparency will be sufficient or if they will be regarded as too little, too late. After people rushed to find Discord alternatives in the wake of the initial announcement, the damage may have already been done in the eyes of many Discord users.

Here’s everything Discord plans to do to gear up for the global rollout of its age-restricted settings, according to its blog post:

1. Adding more verification options. We already had alternatives in development, including credit card verification. We’ll complete and expand those before scaling globally so you have more options you’re comfortable with.
2. Vendor transparency. We’ll document every verification vendor and their practices on our website, and make it clear in the product who each vendor is. We’ve also set a new requirement: any partner offering facial age estimation must perform it entirely on-device. If they don’t meet that bar, we won’t work with them.
3. A new spoiler channel option. We know many communities use age-restricted channels not for adult content, but for topics people prefer to engage with on their own terms: spoilers, politics, and heavier conversations. We’re building a dedicated spoiler channel option so communities don’t have to age-gate their server just to give members that choice.
4. A technical blog post before global launch. We’ll publish a detailed post explaining how our automatic age determination systems work, including the signal categories and privacy constraints. So you can evaluate our approach for yourselves.
5. Age assurance data in our transparency reports. We’ll include how many users were asked to verify, what methods they used, and how often our automated systems handled it without any user action.