Discord to bring age verifications from March, tightens teen safety rules

Discord will begin restricting accounts from March unless users verify their age via face or ID scans, as part of a global rollout of stricter teen safety measures

Discord is tightening its rules around age verification and teen safety. Starting next month, users who do not confirm their age using a face scan or an ID may see their accounts restricted. According to the company’s blog, the change will roll out in phases and will apply to both new and existing users. Until age verification is completed, users will be placed under stricter default settings, limiting access to certain features and content as part of Discord’s broader push to make the platform safer for younger users.

Discord teen safety update

According to Discord, the update is part of a new “teen-by-default” approach. Under this system, all users will initially be placed in a safer, age-appropriate environment. To unlock certain features or access sensitive content, users may be asked to confirm that they are adults. This includes access to age-restricted channels, servers, app commands, and some message settings.

 

 

Discord said that users will be able to verify their age in a few ways. One option is facial age estimation, which uses a short video selfie processed directly on the user’s device. Another option is submitting a government-issued ID through Discord’s verification partners. The company is also introducing an age inference system that runs in the background to help determine whether an account belongs to an adult. In some cases, users may be asked to complete more than one verification step if the system needs additional confirmation. 

Age verification: Privacy

The company said privacy protections are built directly into the age verification process. It also clarified that age verification requests will appear only in the Discord app, not via email or text message. The blog added:

 

Video selfies used for facial age checks stay on the user’s device

ID documents submitted for verification are deleted quickly, often immediately after age confirmation

A user’s age verification status is not visible to other users

Users can appeal or retry the verification process through account settings

 

Safety settings

Along with age checks, Discord is changing default safety settings for all users. Sensitive content will be blurred unless a user is verified as an adult. Only verified adults will be able to access age-gated spaces, speak on stage in servers, or change certain direct message settings. Messages from people a user may not know will be routed to a separate inbox by default, and users will see warning prompts when receiving friend requests from unfamiliar accounts.

 

The company said teen safety remains a key priority and that the update builds on existing protections. Discord had earlier rolled out similar settings in the UK and Australia and is now expanding the approach to users globally.

 

Teen protections on other platforms

 

Age verification and teen safety measures are becoming more common across major platforms. YouTube has introduced supervised accounts, content filters, and restricted features for younger users, while Meta has also added age checks and safety tools across its apps to limit access to sensitive content for teens.