Discord Implements New Age Verification System

Discord has begun globally deploying a new age verification system designed to restrict access to age-restricted content on its platform. The rollout, which started today, is expected to take several days to reach all user accounts.

The new system comes after Discord abandoned an earlier age verification plan in February due to significant user backlash over privacy concerns. These concerns were amplified by a past data breach involving a third-party service that previously handled age verification for Discord in the UK and Australia, which led to the theft of government IDs belonging to 70,000 users.

Initially, Discord had planned to require users to upload identification documents or undergo facial scans to access age-restricted servers and channels. The revised approach, outlined by Discord CTO Stanislav Vishnevskiy, offers multiple alternative methods for age verification.

While the specifics of the new verification methods were not fully detailed in the initial announcement, the company stated they are designed to address the privacy issues raised by the user community. The platform aims to balance content moderation with user privacy in this update.