Discord users have made themselves heard as the company has announced that it will postpone the implementation of its global age checks.
These will be implemented sometime in the second half of 2026.
Discord Delays Age Verification Checks
In a blog post shared on Discord's website, Discord Chief Technology Officer and co-founder Stanislav Vishnevskiy addressed the planned age verification process.
"Let me be upfront: we knew this rollout was going to be controversial. Any time you introduce something that touches identity and verification, people are going to have strong feelings. Rightfully so," Vishnevskiy said in the blog post. "In hindsight, we should have provided more detail about our intentions and how the process works."
"The way this landed, many of you walked away thinking we're requiring face scans and ID uploads from everyone just to use Discord," he added. "That's not what's happening, but the fact that so many people believe it tells us we failed at our most basic job: clearly explaining what we're doing and why. That's on us."
According to Gizmodo, Discord previously announced that it was planning to set all new and existing accounts to "teen-by-default" settings.
What this means is that any user looking to access age-restricted content and features must need to prove that they are adults.
Vishnevskiy Clarifies Age Checks
Vishnevskiy emphasized in the blog post that Discord does not want to change the experience for majority of the users. He also stressed that a user's age group is private, and other users cannot see it.
"Over 90% of users will never need to verify their age to continue using Discord exactly as they do today," he said.
The Discord co-founder also explained that for users who will find themselves needing to prove their age, these users will get different options on how to go about it. He assured that none of these options will require users to provide their identity.
"And if you choose not to verify, here's exactly what happens: you keep your account, your servers, your friends list, your DMs, and voice chat," Vishnevskiy explained. "The only thing that changes is you won't be able to access age-restricted content or change certain default safety settings designed to protect teens."
Originally published on Tech Times
