Discord to bring back age verification
The popular online communication service will be transitioning to a teen-by-default approach – bringing back age-verification for its users.
In a structural reset of the platform, Discord will now begin asking users to verify their age before accessing certain online communities or changing certain safety settings.
Age-verification on Discord was already a thing in countries where the law requires it; now, it will be the default everywhere regardless of whether a country’s laws force verification or not.
According to Discord’s official safety materials, age-verification prompts will be triggered on four occasions only;
- Unblurring sensitive content or disabling the content filter
- Accessing age-restricted channels, servers, and app commands
- Changing Message Request Inbox settings (who can DM you from outside your circle)
- Speaking on a Stage channel
And, appropriately, there are four ways to verify your age on Discord;
- Video selfie via k-ID
- ID scan pairs a government-issued ID with a selfie through a vendor flow.
- Google Wallet users can share a passport ID pass
- Credit card details pass through k-ID and Stripe
“Discord’s default setup now includes content filters, age-gated spaces, a message request inbox, and stage restrictions — all designed to protect younger users by default,” Discord said.
Surprisingly for some, it appears that the selfie method stands out as the most secure and less intrusive way of verifying your age on discord as it doesn’t rely on information being handled back and forth between third parties and Discord themselves.
