The world is more reliant on Discord than we'd all probably like to admit. Forums live on Discord, development communities live on Discord, classrooms live on Discord, gaming voice chats live on Discord. Heck, I've even worked at a newsroom that used Discord as its workplace communication platform. People use the platform as personal file servers, password managers, and an assortment of other wacky deployments.
It's free and accessible to all, and that means people use it for all kinds of things. That creates a core problem — kids and teens are using the same platform as grown adults. While one Discord server might be used for education, another might be a NSFW chatroom. Age verification is becoming a hot topic in every corner of the internet as large platforms try to crack down on kids cosplaying as adults.
They'll all probably fail, because kids have a way of outsmarting even the toughest age restrictions on the web. At least, that's what I thought until I read Discord's new plan for securing the platform for teenagers. It's debuting a "teen-by-default" experience for everyone, globally. In other words, you're a teen until proven otherwise. Without going out of your way to prove your age with a facial scan or uploading a government-issued ID, Discord accounts will be blocked from age-restricted spaces and certain features will be restricted.
I'm not a hardcore Discord user; I use it when I have to, but I don't seek it out. From my perspective, the platform's new age verification policy sparks two equal and opposite reactions. It's clear that Discord is the only platform trying to take underage user protections seriously. I'm also certain that I will never, ever give my face or government ID to Discord — or just about any internet platform, for that matter.
Discord is rolling out a 'teen-by-default' experience worldwide next month
Discord announced this week that starting in early March, new and existing users "may be required to engage in an age-verification process to change certain settings or access sensitive content." It's part of a major change that applies a "teen-appropriate experience" to all Discord users by default. The company says that it launched this experience in the U.K. and Australia last year, and it's now rolling out globally starting next month.
Here are the default settings that will apply to all non-age verified Discord accounts starting in early March, according to the blog post:
- Content Filters: Discord users will need to be age-assured as adults in order to unblur sensitive content or turn off the setting.
- Age-gated Spaces – Only users who are age-assured as adults will be able to access age-restricted channels, servers, and app commands.
- Message Request Inbox: Direct messages from people a user may not know are routed to a separate inbox by default, and access to modify this setting is limited to age-assured adult users.
- Friend Request Alerts: People will receive warning prompts for friend requests from users they may not know.
- Stage Restrictions: Only age-assured adults may speak on stage in servers.
For adults, the key here is that age verification will be required to access certain features. Discord is offering two methods of what it calls "age assurance:" facial age estimation or submission of a government ID. Facial age estimation uses a video selfie processed on-device, whereas ID cards and documents are processed off-device by a third-party vendor.
In some cases, Discord says a user might be asked to use multiple methods of age verification. Additionally, there's a new "age inference model" that always runs in the background to keep tabs on whether a Discord account is being used by an adult.
That means to keep your Discord experience the same as it is now, you'll need to either give up your face or crucial identity documents, and let Discord monitor your activity in the background. It's a pretty tall ask for a free communication platform.
No, Discord, I'm not giving you my ID or my face
Discord says that its age assurance system is "designed to respect Discord users' privacy and choice," but I'm not so sure. Any solution that involves me giving up my government ID or submitting to a facial scan is far too violating in the first place. We all draw our own lines when it comes to digital privacy, and frankly, many of them are arbitrary. Uploading an ID card with an identification number and just about every piece of identifying information about me to a third-party vendor seems like a pretty easy line to draw, though.
It doesn't help that Discord's prior age verification system was breached in a hack that resulted in 70,000 government IDs being stolen from the platform's third-party partner, as reported by Ars Technica. We don't have to guess what could happen, because it did happen.
I guess some people will be alright with Discord processing video selfies on-device, but it's unclear whether those will be a sufficient for everyone. If you regularly get mistaken for someone underage, will Discord's algorithm require you to upload your ID as extra verification? It seems plausible, based on the company's announcement.
Further complicating matters is that your ID upload is shared with a third-party company that's not Discord, which is a privacy nightmare. Discord says the IDs are deleted "quickly," but the situation is written vaguely in the blog post. Any solution that involves sending a copy of my ID for off-device processing to use a service that isn't mission critical is a non-starter for me.
Sure, I'll send in my ID to apply for an apartment lease or to open a bank account. But to use Discord? Sorry, I'm out.
Age verification is an impossible task with major risks
Here's where this all gets really confusing — I think this is the right move that takes real steps to protect kids on Discord. It's not just posturing, it's a risky and aggressive move that puts safeguarding minors above the platform's business interests. Regardless, the method of implementing age verification is sure to push away privacy-conscious users. Platforms built for kids, or those that employ "teen-by-default" experiences, are always going to be at odds with adults.
Until we have a centralized and trusted system for age verification, systems like these are going to alienate users. Uploading a picture of my government ID for Discord and its partners to review feels like an unnecessary step that opens myself up to all kinds of risk, identity theft chief among them.
I'm glad Discord is putting children first, but I'll have to support it from the sidelines. I'm just not sharing my face or ID.
