Discord is hitting the brakes on its global age verification rollout following significant community backlash and privacy concerns. The platform confirmed it will delay the expansion of its “Teen By Default” age assurance system until the second half of 2026. This delay gives the company time to address confusion, improve transparency, and expand verification options.
Discord halts age verification feature rollout amid backlash
The delay comes just weeks after Discord unveiled plans to broaden age verification and safety controls worldwide. The announcement sparked heated debate across social media, with some users threatening to leave the platform. Also, competitors like TeamSpeak are reportedly seeing a surge in demand that strained hosting capacity in the U.S.
In a blog post, Discord CTO Stanislav Vishnevskiy acknowledged that the company “missed the mark” in explaining how the system would function. Many users believed facial scans and ID uploads would be required for everyone, a perception Discord says is inaccurate.
Under a section titled “What We’re Changing Right Now,” the company outlined several updates. The global rollout is now postponed to late 2026, though Discord will continue complying with existing laws in regions such as the UK and Australia, with Brazil soon to follow.
Discord says more than 90% of users will never need to verify their age. The system relies primarily on internal account-level signals, such as account age, payment methods, and server participation. Moreover, it does not read messages or analyze conversations. For the smaller group requiring verification to access age-restricted content, third-party vendors will confirm only an age group, not identity.
The company also pledged to publish a full list of verification vendors and explain their data handling practices. Any facial age estimation tools must run entirely on-device, ensuring biometric data never leaves a user’s phone. Additional changes include introducing spoiler-only channel options to reduce unnecessary age-gating and adding age assurance metrics to transparency reports.
While skepticism remains, Discord says the delay reflects its commitment to rebuilding trust before launching the system globally.
Originally reported by Samridhi Goel on Mandatory
