Discord will implement age verification worldwide from March 2026. Anyone who does not identify themselves as an adult will lose access to some features. The measure is intended to strengthen the protection of minors.
Discord is introducing mandatory age verification worldwide. The platform, which claims to have over 200 million monthly active users, will convert all accounts to a “youth-friendly experience” by default in the future.
Those who cannot or do not want to identify themselves as adults will face certain restrictions. The announcement was made on February 9, 2026—just in time for Global Safer Internet Day on February 10, as Discord stated in the related announcement .
This will soon change for users
As early as March, all Discord users will be switched to the “teen-appropriate experience.” This means that until you have verified your age, the program will treat you as a minor and restrict your use accordingly. This applies to all existing and new accounts.
This means that access to age-restricted channels, such as games rated 18+, will be blocked. In addition, messages and friend requests from unknown users will end up in a separate inbox folder.
Discord is planning a “phased global rollout” for this, so that age verification will not affect all users at the same time.
The Discord measure has been simmering for several months, so to speak: Last year, the United Kingdom, among others, finalized a law on age verification for certain platforms.
Discord: How age verification works
Discord offers three ways to verify your age:
- An AI-powered facial age estimation via video selfie
- Uploading an official ID document to a partner provider.
- An “age inference model” that evaluates metadata such as usage behavior, activity times, and account type in the background. Users with a “high probability of being an adult” should be able to skip verification.
According to Discord, the video selfies will only be processed on the user’s device. ID documents will be deleted after verification; “in most cases, this happens immediately after age confirmation.”
For most users, this process should be completed with a single verification and only need to be repeated in exceptional cases.
Savannah Badalich, Head of Product Policy at Discord, told The Verge that “the majority of users will see no change in their experience.”
Nowhere is our safety work more important than with young users. […] The global rollout of default parental controls builds on Discord’s existing safety architecture. It provides strong protection for young people, while verified adults continue to enjoy flexibility.”
The company’s announcement has not been particularly well received by the community. Several posts are looking for alternatives to Discord, while advising against verification.
“Teen Council” as a teenage advisory board
Discord also announced the formation of a Teen Council. This group will consist of ten to twelve teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 and will help the company understand what young people expect from the platform and what they need to feel safe and supported on Discord.
The official minimum age for using Discord is currently 16.