Discord has announced an age verification feature on its platform for the users to verify their ages by sharing video selfies and providing government IDs to ensure enhanced security.
This move comes at a time when laws requiring age verification on social media platforms are rapidly increasing.
On Monday, Discord’s global head of product policy, Savannah Badalich told The Verge, “For most adults, age verification won’t be required, as Discord’s age inference model uses account information such as account tenure, device and activity data, and aggregated, high-level patterns across Discord communities. Discord does not use private messages or any message content in this process.
With this significant update, teen users will neither be able to access age-restricted servers and channels, nor will they be allowed to speak in Discord’s livestream-like “stage” channels, and will receive content filters for any sensitive content.
Moreover, users will be warned after receiving friend requests from unfamiliar users, if they get any direct messages (DMs) from unknown users, those requests would be automatically filtered into a separate inbox.
Direct messages and servers that are not age-restricted will continue to function normally; however, users won’t be able to send messages or view content in an age-restricted server until they complete the verification.
Badalich says those servers will be “obfuscated” with a black screen until the user verifies they’re an adult. Moreover, users won’t be able to join any new age-restricted servers without completing the age-checking process.
