Discord Delays Age Verification, Face Scans and ID Documents Will Not Be Mandatory
After facing strong criticism from users, Discord has decided to delay the launch of its age verification system. Instead of starting in March, the rollout has been pushed to the second half of 2026. During this time, the company will work on changes, improvements, and new verification methods.
The main concerns were not only about the restrictions for users who did not complete the verification, but also about the methods proposed: face scans or sending an identity document. These options raised serious doubts about privacy and how sensitive data would be handled.
How the Age Verification System Will Change
In a new blog post, Discord’s CTO Stanislav Vishnevskiy explained that the company listened to community feedback and admitted that the initial communication caused confusion about how the system would work. Discord also shared how it plans to improve the system before the new launch.
The main goal is to expand the verification options by adding less invasive methods, such as confirmation through a credit card. This would give users more choices instead of limiting them to face scans or ID uploads.
At the same time, Discord will increase transparency about the partners involved. Every provider used for age verification will be listed on the official website, with clear information about their practices. Discord has also introduced a key requirement: any face-based age estimation technology must work entirely on the user’s device, without sending data to external servers. If it does not meet this rule, it will not be used.
Another important update concerns how channels are managed. Many communities use age-restricted rooms not for adult content, but for spoilers, politics, or sensitive discussions. To avoid blocking entire servers for younger users, Discord will introduce a new type of spoiler channel, separate from age-based restrictions.
Before the global rollout, the company will publish a detailed technical post explaining how automatic age detection systems work. This will include what signals are analyzed and what privacy protections are in place.
Finally, future transparency reports will include specific data about the age verification system. Discord will share how many verifications were requested, which methods were used, and how often the process was handled automatically without user action.
In other news, Discord is testing a feature to automatically restart its Windows desktop app if memory usage exceeds 4 GB, acting as a temporary fix for long-standing memory leaks that cause high resource consumption.
