Discord, a popular instant messaging and social platform, announced on Monday that it will roll out age verification technology as “age-appropriate protections” on the platform.
“Discord is announcing enhanced teen safety features rolling out globally that reinforce its long-standing commitment to creating a safer and more inclusive experience for users over the age of 13,” Discord stated.
“As part of this update, all new and existing users worldwide will have a teen-appropriate experience by default, with updated communication settings, restricted access to age-gated spaces, and content filtering that preserves the privacy and meaningful connections that define Discord,” it continued.
The platform will require users to undergo a facial age estimation or submit an ID to its vendor partners to complete age verification.
JUST IN – Discord to globally require a bio-metric face scan or ID verification for full access next month to protect “teen safety.” — Verge pic.twitter.com/5EYFwz5YCY
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) February 9, 2026
TechCrunch explained further:
The platform plans to add more options in the future. Discord notes that some users may be asked to use multiple methods when additional information is needed to assign an age group.
The facial age estimation requires video selfies, which Discord says never leave your device. Additionally, the company says IDs submitted to its vendor partners are deleted quickly and, in most cases, immediately after age confirmation.
It’s worth noting that Discord disclosed last October that around 70,000 users may have had sensitive data, such as their government ID photos, exposed after hackers breached a third-party vendor that the platform uses for age-related appeals. The breach reflected digital rights activists’ concerns over the use of age checks as a way to make the internet “safer.”
Discord’s global launch of age verification follows the company’s decision to establish age checks for users in the U.K. and Australia last year.
“Nowhere is our safety work more important than when it comes to teen users, which is why we are announcing these updates in time for Safer Internet Day. Rolling out teen-by-default settings globally builds on Discord’s existing safety architecture, giving teens strong protections while allowing verified adults flexibility,” said Discord Head of Product Policy Savannah Badalich.
“We design our products with teen safety principles at the core and will continue working with safety experts, policymakers, and Discord users to support meaningful, long term wellbeing for teens on the platform,” Badalich added.
“We’re also launching recruitment for Discord’s first Teen Council, creating a space for teen voices to help shape our safety and wellbeing work. Applications are now open for US teens ages 13–17,” Discord Support stated.
Discord will soon be expanding teen safety protections worldwide including teen-by-default settings and age assurance designed to create safer experiences for teens.
We’re also launching recruitment for Discord’s first Teen Council, creating a space for teen voices to help shape… pic.twitter.com/CW7G4sO38R
— Discord Support (@discord_support) February 9, 2026
The Verge has more:
Badalich also says after the October data breach, Discord “immediately stopped doing any sort of age verification flows with that vendor” and is now using a different third-party vendor. She adds, “We’re not doing biometric scanning [or] facial recognition. We’re doing facial estimation. The ID is immediately deleted. We do not keep any information around like your name, the city that you live in, if you used a birth certificate or something else, any of that information.”
However, some users may not have to go through either form of age verification. Discord is also rolling out an age inference model that analyzes metadata like the types of games a user plays, their activity on Discord, and behavioral signals like signs of working hours or the amount of time they spend on Discord.
“If we have a high confidence that they are an adult, they will not have to go through the other age verification flows,” Badalich says.
She goes on to explain that the addition of age assurance will mainly impact adult content: “A majority of people on Discord are not necessarily looking at explicit or graphic content. When we say that, we’re really talking about things that are truly adult content [and] age inappropriate for a teen. So, the way that it will work is a majority of people are not going to see a change in their experience.”
Even so, there’s still a risk that some users will leave Discord as a result of the age verification rollout. “We do expect that there will be some sort of hit there, and we are incorporating that into what our planning looks like,” Badalich says. “We’ll find other ways to bring users back.”