What happens if you don’t verify your age on Discord

Online gaming chat platform Discord has announced it will require all users over the age of 13 to verify their age by uploading their ID or scanning their face.

This change will take effect from early March and will apply to new and existing users worldwide.

Users who have not verified their age will be prevented from viewing sensitive content, including age-restricted channels, servers, or commands.

To verify their age and access this content, users can choose to use facial age estimation via a scan of their face, or they can submit a form of identification to the platform’s age assurance partners.

Discord also said that it will implement an age inference model that will run in the background and help determine whether an account belongs to an adult or not.

More options for age assurance will become available soon, the company said.

Accounts locked to teen-by-default

Following this rollout, Discord users who have not verified their age will have their accounts set to a more age-appropriate experience.

This Discord Teen mode will be the default experience for new users, and they will face the following restrictions:

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.

This teen-by-default configuration has already been rolled out in the UK and Australia, and it is now being expanded to encompass all users globally.

Discord also announced the formation of a ‘Teen Council’, consisting of 10-12 teens who will help to shape the experience and improve the safety of teenagers on Discord.

The company said the council will inform future product features, policies, and educational resources.

“Nowhere is our safety work more important than when it comes to teen users, which is why we are announcing these updates in time for Safer Internet Day,” said Discord Head of Product Policy Savannah Badalich.

“Rolling out teen-by-default settings globally builds on Discord’s existing safety architecture, giving teens strong protections while allowing verified adults flexibility.”

“We design our products with teen safety principles at the core and will continue working with safety experts, policymakers, and Discord users to support meaningful, long term wellbeing for teens on the platform,” Badalich said.