Discord has decided to postpone the global rollout of its age verification system until the second half of 2026, following user feedback and concerns. The platform aims to implement additional verification options, including credit card verification, and will ensure transparency by documenting each verification vendor. Plans also include introducing “spoiler channels” as an alternative to age-gated channels and publishing a technical blog post on their age estimation methods.
In regions with legal verification requirements, such as the UK, Australia, and soon Brazil, adults accessing age-restricted content must confirm their age using a vendor like k-ID. The delay comes after backlash regarding plans to default many accounts to a “teen-appropriate” setting unless verified as adult.
Discord’s internal systems estimate age using account-level signals without reading messages or content. Despite criticism partly due to a past third-party vendor data breach, Discord assures that external vendors handle identification separately. The platform now insists on transparency with its vendors, requiring facial age estimation to be performed entirely on-device. Discord has stopped using Persona, a provider that didn’t meet these criteria, after a UK test in January.