Discord co-founder and CTO Stanislav Vishnevskiy says the company will delay its global age assurance rollout to the second half of 2026, following backlash from users concerned about privacy and identity verification.
In a detailed post addressing the community, Vishnevskiy acknowledged that the company mishandled communication around its plans to introduce global age checks. “We failed at our most basic job, clearly explaining what we’re doing and why. That’s on us,” he wrote.
The CTO says the proposed system is designed to ensure age-appropriate experiences on the platform, particularly as Discord faces growing regulatory pressure in markets such as the UK and Australia, with Brazil and parts of Europe and the United States considering similar legislation. He said the goal is to protect teens while allowing adults access to age-restricted content, without collecting users’ identities.
According to Discord, more than 90 percent of users will rarely need to verify their age. The company says it already uses internal safety systems that can determine whether many users are adults based on account-level signals, including account age, payment methods on file, and activity patterns. The company stressed that these systems do not read private messages or analyze conversation content.
For the minority of users who do need to verify, Discord will offer multiple third-party verification options. The company said vendors will only pass back a user’s age group, not their identity, and that age data will be retained only for the minimum time necessary. Discord has set a new requirement for facial age estimation partners, stating that any such checks must be performed entirely on the device so biometric data does not leave a user’s phone.
As part of the changes, the company will publish a technical blog post detailing how its automatic age determination systems work before launching globally. It will also disclose all verification vendors on its website and in product, including their data handling practices. Age assurance metrics will be added to future transparency reports.
The company is also building a new spoiler channel option for communities that currently use age-restricted channels for non-adult topics such as spoilers or political discussions, allowing servers to avoid unnecessarily gating content behind age checks.
While Discord will continue to comply with age verification laws in countries where they are already in effect, Vishnevskiy said the broader global expansion will only move forward after the additional safeguards and transparency measures are in place.
Vishnevskiy closed by emphasizing that rebuilding confidence will take time. He reiterated that the company is listening to user concerns to refine the rollout before expanding age assurance globally.
