Discord is facing backlash after announcing that all users will soon be required to verify ages to access adult content by sharing video selfies or uploading government IDs.
According to Discord, it's relying on AI technology that verifies age on the user's device, either by evaluating a user's facial structure or by comparing a selfie to a government ID. Although government IDs will be checked off-device, the selfie data will never leave the user's device, Discord emphasized. Both forms of data will be promptly deleted after the user's age is estimated.
In a blog, Discord confirmed that "a phased global rollout" would begin in "early March," at which point all users globally would be defaulted to "teen-appropriate" experiences.