Discord Delays Global Age Verification to 2026

Discord, the popular communication platform favored by gaming communities, announced on February 24 that it has delayed its global rollout of age verification measures until the second half of 2026. The postponement follows significant user backlash against the original plan, which called for facial scans or government ID uploads starting in March to grant full access to adult-oriented features.

The company, which counts over 200 million monthly active users, many of them teenagers, had intended to implement "teen-by-default" settings worldwide. Under that approach, users would need to verify their age to access unrestricted content, while those who declined would be limited to age-appropriate features. Discord's co-founder and CTO, Stanislav Vishnevskiy, addressed the concerns in a blog post, stating that the platform's internal systems can automatically determine the age of more than 90 percent of users based on signals such as account history, payment methods, and activity patterns, without reviewing message content. "Let me be upfront: we knew this rollout was going to be controversial," Vishnevskiy wrote. "Any time you introduce something that touches identity and...