Discord revamps age verification checks – here’s what it means for the UK

A social paradise for gamers (Discord) After concerns over privacy, Discord has relaunched age verification checks worldwide, with new ways to prove your identity. Age verification is a hot button issue in the UK, with last year’s Online Safety Act preventing young teens from accessing porn sites, but it has impacted social media apps too. In February, Discord, a social app associated with gamers, announced plans to roll out age verification checks to all users worldwide. However, this was delayed to the second half of 2026 following criticism over privacy concerns. In the original announcement, all accounts were going to be set to ‘teen appropriate’ as the default, restricting access to certain servers. To prove your age, you could either take a video selfie or scan a government-issued ID. Now, Discord is rolling out an expanded set of age verification checks in an attempt to quell concerns, with some of them not requiring selfies or ID. How can I verify my age on Discord? Expert, exclusive gaming analysis Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. As announced on the Discord support page yesterday (September 22), Discord users can verify their age in various ways. Along with the old methods of a video selfie or ID scan, you can now use the likes of the Apple App Store or Google Wallet to confirm your age range. The full list of options, which varies depending on the device you use, are listed below. Apple App Store Google Play Store Credit Card Google Wallet Video selfie ID scan AgeKey Do I need to verify my age on Discord in the UK? While Discord’s co-founder and chief technology officer, Stanislav Vishnevskiy, claims that ‘more than 90%’ of its users worldwide ‘won’t be asked to confirm your age’, the situation is different in the UK thanks to the Online Safety Act. Starting from today, many users from around the world will be automatically assigned an age group using ‘account signals’, based on how long your account has existed and the kind of servers you already have access to. However, to comply with UK regulations, this age estimation model will not be used for UK users. Instead, UK accounts will come with updated default settings to filter out ‘potentially harmful content’, and measures to prevent access to age-restricted servers. To lift these restrictions, you’ll need to prove you’re an adult (over 18) by heading to User Settings and Account Status. If you don’t verify your age, you’ll still be able to message friends and server members you’re already connected with, participate in servers that aren’t age-restricted, make voice and video calls, and play games as normal. Can I get around the Discord age checks? While some users initially bypassed the age checks by scanning faces from Death Stranding, this loophole has since been fixed. According to a Q&A page, a verified adult can alter some settings for other users of a lower age bracket if they’re connected through a Family Center group in the app. However, it states that teen safety protections ‘are applied when we believe a user is a teen and most can’t be changed by anyone other than your teen confirming they’re an adult’. Another potential route is via a VPN, but it’s unclear if these will work following this latest update, as the age group assignment is based on more than your geographical location. It might be difficult to get around (Discord) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. Arrow MORE: Fable preview – bringing back the dog is still a ‘future possibility’ says dev Arrow MORE: Gears Of War story director laid off as Halo Studios is reduced to skeleton crew Arrow MORE: Sonic would have been axed by Sega if it wasn’t for the movie GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.