Discord postpones age verification after a wave of reactions

In early February, chat application Discord announced that it would implement an age verification policy in March, including facial scanning or requiring uploading identification documents in cases where the system cannot identify adults. The announcement quickly sparked outrage. Many people mentioned a security incident late last year of a provider that Discord cooperated with, causing the ID card photos of 70,000 users to be exposed.

Stanislav Vishnevskiy, Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Discord, said this week that the implementation of the new policy will be delayed to the second half of 2026. He admitted that the company did not do it properly, making some mistakes, such as not clearly communicating how these changes will affect users.

“Many of you are worried that this is just another big tech company looking for new ways to collect personal data, that we are creating problems to justify violating privacy. I understand that skepticism. It is well-founded, not only for us but for the entire technology industry. But that is not what we are doing,” Vishnevskiy wrote on the blog on February 24.

Discord, an online communication platform popular with gamers, currently has more than 200 million active users. The app is also increasingly used in Vietnam, especially among the gaming and Gen Z communities. The company said it will continue to meet legal obligations regarding age verification, but the global rollout will only take place after a previously announced policy revision.

Vishnevskiy said Discord will not require everyone to scan their faces or upload identification documents, and more than 90% of users will not need age verification to continue using the platform. “If you are among the less than 10% who need verification, we will provide options designed so that we only know your age, not your identity.”

If users choose not to verify their age, they can keep their account, servers, friend lists, messages and voice chats, but cannot access age-restricted content or change some safety settings. Vishnevskiy also mentioned last year’s security breach and said Discord no longer cooperates with this provider.