I’ve by no means seen patch notes issued for a press launch earlier than, but Discord just did exactly that. The corporate has up to date the language round its new age-gating guidelines to clarify that the “vast majority” of customers don’t have anything to fret about as a result of the corporate’s AI will be capable of precisely estimate their age and bypass the controversial new verification procedures rolling out over the subsequent few months.
It’s been a tough 24 hours for Discord, the modern hub for gaming conversations online. The corporate revealed new age verification necessities on February 9 that will lock customers out of sure options, like “age-restricted experiences,” until they add a face scan or an image of their ID. The blowback was swift and loud, with calls to boycott Discord’s paid Nitro subscriptions and return to old-school web site boards.
Perhaps that’s why Discord returned a day later to put up a “novel” that goes into extra element about its new age assurance guidelines. “Discord is not requiring everyone to complete a face scan or upload an ID to use Discord,” the corporate promised in a brand new addendum on February 10. “The vast majority of people can continue using Discord exactly as they do today, without ever being asked to confirm their age.”
Hmm let me play the roll of Clippy and aid you
Your Age Inference mannequin is already working and has way more then simply Age predictions. https://t.co/oj7j81DjNI
Not requiring everybody: since you are already utilizing your AI to seize knowledge and age predict Age, Intercourse, and so forth. Therefore…
— Rakunvar 👀P.R. for @StreamerHouse🏘️ (@Rakunvar) February 10, 2026
That’s as a result of Discord’s AI inference model might be used to guess most customers’ age. If it guesses a quantity that’s 18 or greater, you’re within the clear. If it doesn’t, you’ll have to offer the corporate your delicate knowledge to be able to get across the new teen security protocols. However Discord is fast to emphasize that this doesn’t apply to most individuals as a result of most individuals don’t ever entry grownup content material on Discord.
“You must be a confirmed adult to access age-restricted content and experiences such as age-restricted servers and channels or to modify certain safety settings,” the corporate explains in a new FAQ. “The majority of Discord users don’t access age restricted content and will never go through a facial age estimation flow or ID verification. In the minority of cases where we cannot confirm you as an adult and you need to access age-restricted areas and settings, then you will be asked to go through additional steps.”
Archived servers and canceled Nitro subs
All of this “our big announcement wasn’t actually a big deal” vitality got here after a direct consumer revolt that noticed, amongst different issues, Discord repeatedly get community noted on X. Folks didn’t like the concept that Discord is already continually surveilling its customers to build an anonymous profile of you that I’m positive it’s not hoping to additional monetize once it reportedly launches its secret IPO.
It doesn’t assist that every one of that is coming after a pretty bad hack of a Discord vendor last year that noticed age verification supplies, together with photographs of customers’ faces, obtained by malicious actors. The corporate says it doesn’t preserve this info tagged to your consumer knowledge, however for those who assume there’s a protected method to digitally transmit your face and/or your government-issued ID to an organization over the web in 2026, then I’ve some totally not killer AI robot assistants to sell you.
Whereas the backlash has been noisy, it’s not clear how many individuals will really shift away from Discord over the brand new guidelines, although some diehard customers on the Discord subreddit already declare to be calling it quits. One popular thread had a server proprietor searching for assist with archiving it earlier than they depart the platform. Some customers on social media, in the meantime, have been making public displays of canceling their paid memberships, Discord’s major income.
To this point, non one appears to be biting on the corporate’s newest try and deescalate individuals’s fears. “If this isn’t reversed I will be cancelling my Nitro and all Boosts,” one consumer wrote on X. “I recommend everyone does the same.” Discord’s amended announcement, like the unique, is already properly on its method to getting ratio’d.
