Discord to roll out global age verification for adult content
Discord will soon require users worldwide to verify their age—either through a face scan or by uploading identification—if they want to access adult content on the platform.
Its new safety measures are designed to protect people by placing everyone into a teen-appropriate experience "by default".
Discord already makes some users in the UK and Australia verify their age to comply with online safety laws - but it will roll out age checks to users worldwide from early March.
"Nowhere is our safety work more important than when it comes to teen users," said Discord policy head Savannah Badalich.
"Rolling out teen-by-default settings globally builds on Discord's existing safety architecture, giving teens strong protections while allowing verified adults flexibility."
The platform says the new default settings will restrict what people can see and how they can communicate, with only those who prove they are an adult able to access age-restricted communities and unblur material marked as sensitive.
Users will also not be able to see direct messages sent to them from someone they do not know unless they complete Discord's age checks.
"The sentiment behind creating a safer community for all social media users is a positive move," said Drew Benvie, head of social media consultancy Battenhall.
But he told the BBC putting the new system into place could be "fraught with issues" considering the platform has millions of communities.
"Discord could lose users if its implementation of age verification backfires, but it could equally attract more new users who will be drawn to its new standards for online safety by design," he said.
The company said later on Monday it would use "inference" tools to identify users likely to be adults.
"For most adults, age verification won't be required, as Discord's age inference model uses account information such as account tenure, device and activity data, and aggregated, high-level patterns across Discord communities," said Badalich.
"Discord does not use private messages or any message content in this process."
By Nijat Babayev
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