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🔞 Discord has announced a new round of age verification for the platform
📅 Users will need to submit a video selfie or upload ID to remove restrictions, beginning in March
🤷♂️ The app will operate with a “teen-appropriate experience” out of the box
🤔 Discord is also recruiting for a new Teen Council to understand the needs of teenagers from the social platform
Discord has announced it’s updating its age verification process to put a lock on adult content and any age-gated spaces.
As per a press release, this will start in March, and by default, users will have a “teen-appropriate experience” when they login. A one time age verification will be needed to unlock the platform fully.
This comes as part of a wider safety update for Discord which encompasses communication settings, restricted access to age-gated spaces and content filtering.
For instance, those who aren’t verified as adults will see sensitive content as being blurred out. In addition, they won’t be able to access age-gated channels, servers, and app commands will also be blocked.
DMs and friend requests to members from unknown users will also be routed to a separate invoice as a part of this update.
Removing the restrictions will require one of two verification methods when this system launches. You can either take a selfie video for age estimation, or submit a government ID to Discord’s vendor partners.
The company is quick to stress that the video selfie submitted will never leave your device, and that documentation sent to vendor partners for authentication will be deleted quickly. According to Discord, “in most cases, immediately after age confirmation.”
As much as Discord says the verification process should be one-and-done for most people, some folks may be required to submit multiple items for verification.
It’s also set to expand the options for verification later down the line, including an age inference model that runs in the background of the app.
This latest push for age verification comes as part of a longer road for Discord as it attempts to update its child safety measures. For instance, back in 2023, it banned AI-generated CSAM and banned teen dating channels, before adding content filters and automated warnings.
To go alongside these changes, Discord is recruiting a new Teen Council, it has announced today. The group will include ten to 12 teens aged 13 to 17. It says this “will help ensure Discord understands — not assumes — what teens need, how they build meaningful connections, and what makes them feel safe and supported online.”
The child safety changes will start rolling out globally in early March. Both new and existing users will be required to submit verification for adult content.
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Reece Bithrey is a journalist with bylines for Trusted Reviews, Digital Foundry, PC Gamer, TechRadar and more. He also has his own blog, UNTITLED, and graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in International History and Politics in 2023.
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