The popular social network Discord will require almost all users to verify their age using a selfie or an ID card if they want to access adult content, starting in early March.
In a blog post Monday, the San-Francisco-based start-up said it would automatically give its reported 200 million worldwide users a “teen-appropriate” experience unless they can prove they are over the age of majority.
Users can ask AI to estimate their age using a selfie, which Discord promised will never leave the device they take it on, or else submit some form of ID to be checked.
The company will also continually analyze your activity and interests to estimate your likely age and exempt you from checks if its systems are confident you’re an adult.
It follows a similar move by the children’s gaming platform Roblox, as countries and provinces around the world attempt to crack down on childhood internet use.
“Nowhere is our safety work more important than when it comes to teen users, which is why we are announcing these updates in time for Safer Internet Day,” said Discord’s head of product policy 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 move comes amid a worldwide wave of new age verification laws. Australia has gone so far as to banish all under-16s from social media and Spain is set to follow suit.
The U.K. now requires all apps hosting pornographic or adult content to verify its users’ age, as do nearly one third of U.S. states. YouTube, Instagram, and Spotify have all started testing such systems.
But age checks can be controversial, in part because millions of people sending their ID to a verification company makes a tempting target for hackers.
Multiple age check systems have been breached over the past decade, including one of Discord’s previous third-party providers.
Founded in 2015, Discord — which reportedly filed for an IPO last month — is effectively a chatroom app built around millions of user-run ‘servers’, each with varying membership requirements.
It is particularly popular among gamers, fandoms, LGBT+ and also many thriving porn communities.
The app has previously faced controversy over its widespread use by far-right extremists. More recently it came under federal scrutiny as a frequent haunt of Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson.
Discord’s new rules expand its existing controls for the U.K. and Australia to the rest of the world. Unverified users will be barred from adult servers and chat channels, and unable to view any images or videos that Discord’s content-scanning AI tags as graphic or sensitive.
Messages from strangers will be automatically segregated in a separate inbox, with unknown friend requests marked by a warning.
To prevent data breaches, Discord said that its age estimation selfies will never leave the user’s device, while identity documents will be “deleted quickly — in most cases, immediately after age confirmation”. Users can appeal decisions they believe to be mistaken.
The vetting process will presumably be more rigorous for Discord’s inaugural “Teen Council”, billed as “a teen advisory body that brings authentic teen perspectives” to the app’s development.
“By embedding diverse teen perspectives directly into decision-making, the Council will help ensure Discord’s safety features are protective while balancing teen privacy and autonomy.”
