Discord is facing significant backlash over its proposed age verification requirement, leading the platform to adjust its strategy for the time being.
The company has ended its partnership with Persona, the age verification provider that drew complaints for its approaches to privacy and the management of facial recognition and identification documents. Discord is now assessing alternative providers while placing a strong emphasis on safeguarding user privacy.
Initially set to launch age checks in March, Discord has shifted the timeline to the latter part of 2026 in response to the uproar. A recent company blog entry addresses the miscommunication, asserting that age verification offers benefits even amid privacy worries.
In the post, Discord co-founder Stanislav Vishnevskiy notes that more than 90% of users can keep accessing the service unchanged without any age confirmation. He adds that for the remaining under 10% who must participate, the process will provide choices focused solely on confirming age without revealing personal details.
The platform stresses its commitment to avoiding the collection of individual data: It only requires knowledge of adulthood status, not full identities. This extends to partners, who cannot connect any personal information to a user's Discord profile—a deliberate feature of the system. Such partners serve as external entities managing the verification between users and Discord.
During this postponement, Discord plans to introduce additional verification methods, enhance clarity about its providers, and release reports detailing verification statistics, including the number of users prompted, preferred techniques, and instances where automation resolved matters without user involvement.
The blog wraps up by admitting shortcomings: The team is attentive to feedback and determined to implement improvements effectively. Whether this proves accurate remains to be seen.