Discord In Injury Management Mode As Customers Threaten To Ditch Nitro

I’ve by no means seen patch notes issued for a press launch earlier than, however Discord simply did precisely that. The corporate has up to date the language round its new age-gating guidelines to clarify that the “overwhelming majority” of customers don’t have anything to fret about as a result of the corporate’s AI will be capable of precisely estimate their age and bypass the controversial new verification procedures rolling out over the following few months.

It’s been a tough 24 hours for Discord, the fashionable hub for gaming conversations on-line. The corporate revealed new age verification necessities on February 9 that will lock customers out of sure options, like “age-restricted experiences,” until they add a face scan or an image of their ID. The blowback was swift and loud, with calls to boycott Discord’s paid Nitro subscriptions and return to old-school web site boards.

Perhaps that’s why Discord returned a day later to submit a “novel” that goes into extra element about its new age assurance guidelines. “Discord isn’t requiring everybody to finish a face scan or add an ID to make use of Discord,” the corporate promised in a brand new addendum on February 10. “The overwhelming majority of individuals can proceed utilizing Discord precisely as they do at present, with out ever being requested to substantiate their age.”

Hmm let me play the roll of Clippy and aid you

Your Age Inference mannequin is already working and has rather more then simply Age predictions.

Not requiring everybody: since you are already utilizing your AI to seize knowledge and age predict Age, Intercourse, and so on. Therefore…

— Rakunvar 👀P.R. for @StreamerHouse🏘️ (@Rakunvar) February 10, 2026

That’s as a result of Discord’s AI inference mannequin will probably be used to guess most customers’ age. If it guesses a quantity that’s 18 or increased, you’re within the clear. If it doesn’t, you’ll have to provide the corporate your delicate knowledge as a way to get across the new teen security protocols. However Discord is fast to emphasize that this doesn’t apply to most individuals as a result of most individuals don’t ever entry grownup content material on Discord.

“You have to be a confirmed grownup to entry age-restricted content material and experiences equivalent to age-restricted servers and channels or to switch sure security settings,” the corporate explains in a brand new FAQ. “The vast majority of Discord customers don’t entry age restricted content material and can by no means undergo a facial age estimation circulate or ID verification. Within the minority of instances the place we can’t verify you as an grownup and it’s essential entry age-restricted areas and settings, then you’ll be requested to undergo extra steps.”

Archived servers and canceled Nitro subs

All of this “our large announcement wasn’t truly a giant deal” vitality got here after an instantaneous consumer revolt that noticed, amongst different issues, Discord repeatedly get neighborhood famous on X. Individuals didn’t like the concept that Discord is already consistently surveilling its customers to construct an nameless profile of you that I’m certain it’s not hoping to additional monetize as soon as it reportedly launches its secret IPO.

It doesn’t assist that each one of that is coming after a fairly dangerous hack of a Discord vendor final yr that noticed age verification supplies, together with pictures of customers’ faces, obtained by malicious actors. The corporate says it doesn’t preserve this data tagged to your consumer knowledge, however for those who suppose there’s a secure option to digitally transmit your face and/or your government-issued ID to an organization over the web in 2026, then I’ve some completely not killer AI robotic assistants to promote you.

Whereas the backlash has been noisy, it’s not clear how many individuals will truly shift away from Discord over the brand new guidelines, although some diehard customers on the Discord subreddit already declare to be calling it quits. One standard thread had a server proprietor on the lookout for assist with archiving it earlier than they go away the platform. Some customers on social media, in the meantime, have been making public shows of canceling their paid memberships, Discord’s primary income.

Up to now, non one appears to be biting on the corporate’s newest try and deescalate folks’s fears. “If this isn’t reversed I will probably be cancelling my Nitro and all Boosts,” one consumer wrote on X. “I like to recommend everybody does the identical.” Discord’s amended announcement, like the unique, is already nicely on its option to getting ratio’d.