United News of Bangladesh

Discord has postponed the worldwide rollout of its age verification system following strong criticism from users who raised concerns about privacy and data security. In a blog post published Tuesday, Discord Chief Technology Officer and co-founder Stanislav Vishnevskiy acknowledged the company had “missed the mark,” announcing that the global expansion of age checks will now be pushed back to the second half of 2026. Vishnevskiy said many users fear the policy is another attempt by a major tech firm to collect more personal data. He said he understood that skepticism, noting it reflects broader mistrust of the technology industry, but insisted Discord is not seeking to introduce intrusive data practices. The platform, which says it has more than 200 million active users, will still comply with legal requirements for age verification in certain jurisdictions. However, broader implementation will wait until the company revises the policy it first outlined in early February. Earlier this month, Discord said it planned to introduce age verification in March, potentially requiring face scans or government ID uploads for users whose age could not be confirmed. The proposal sparked immediate backlash, particularly after users pointed to a recent data breach involving a third-party provider that exposed government ID images of up to 70,000 Discord users. Addressing the breach, Vishnevskiy said Discord no longer works with the vendor involved and claimed the company applies strict privacy and security standards when selecting partners. He said all vendors undergo security and privacy reviews, with contractual limits on data use and tight data retention rules. Information submitted for age verification, he said, is stored only for the shortest time possible and often deleted immediately. One vendor that failed to meet Discord’s requirements was Persona, which Discord tested on a limited basis in the United Kingdom in January. Vishnevskiy said Persona could not meet Discord’s standard that facial age estimation be carried out entirely on a user’s device, ensuring biometric data never leaves the phone. Social media can be addictive for adults Discord later distanced itself from Persona amid online criticism of the company’s links to Founders Fund, run by Peter Thiel, a co-founder of Palantir Technologies. Palantir has faced scrutiny over its government surveillance work, including a recent agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Vishnevskiy said that for more than 90 percent of users, the new system would not change their experience. Discord, he explained, can already estimate most users’ ages using account-level signals such as account history, payment methods, server participation and general activity patterns. He stressed that the company does not read messages or analyze conversations to determine age. For users whose age cannot be identified through these signals, Discord is now developing additional verification options beyond facial scans and ID uploads, including credit card checks. The company said it will fully develop and expand these alternatives before introducing the revised system. Users who decline to verify their age will still be able to keep their accounts, contacts, messages and voice chats, but they will lose access to age-restricted content and be unable to modify certain safety settings aimed at protecting teenagers. Discord also promised greater transparency, saying it will publish a detailed explanation of how its automated age estimation works and provide public documentation of all verification vendors and their data practices.

Discord will soon require users worldwide to verify their age through a face scan or by uploading an official ID to access adult content, as the platform rolls out stricter safety measures aimed at protecting teenagers. The online chat service, which has more than 200 million monthly users, said the new system will place everyone into a teen-appropriate experience by default. Only users who successfully verify that they are adults will be able to access age-restricted communities, unblur sensitive material or receive direct messages from people they do not know. Discord already requires age verification for some users in the UK and Australia to comply with local online safety laws. The company said the expanded checks will be introduced globally from early March. “Nowhere is our safety work more important than when it comes to teen users,” said Savannah Badalich, Discord’s head of policy. She said the global rollout of teen-by-default settings would strengthen existing safety measures while still giving verified adults more flexibility. Under the new system, users can either upload a photo of an identity document or take a short video selfie, with artificial intelligence used to estimate facial age. Discord said information used for age checks would not be stored by the platform or the verification provider, adding that face scans would not be collected and ID images would be deleted once verification is complete. The company’s move has drawn mixed reactions. Drew Benvie, head of social media consultancy Battenhall, said the push for safer online communities was positive but warned that implementing age checks across millions of Discord communities could be challenging. He said the platform could lose users if the system backfires, but might also attract new users who value stronger safety standards. Privacy advocates have previously raised concerns about age verification tools. In October, Discord faced criticism after ID photos of about 70,000 users were potentially exposed following a hack of a third-party firm involved in age checks. The announcement comes amid growing pressure on social media companies from lawmakers to better protect children online. Discord’s chief executive Jason Citron was questioned about child safety at a US Senate hearing in 2024 alongside executives from Meta, Snap and TikTok. With the new measures, including the creation of a teen advisory council, Discord is following a broader industry trend seen at platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Roblox, as regulators worldwide push for safer online environments for young users.   With inputs from BBC