Discord Age Limits: Minimum Age Rules, Teen Safety Defaults, and Age Verification Explained

Discord's minimum age rules, teen safety defaults, and age verification system.

Minimum age requirements and parental responsibility

Discord’s minimum age requirements are not universal. The company says that it generally requires users to be at least 13 years old, but “must also meet the minimum age required by laws of the user’s country.” In other words, if your country has a higher minimum age for online services than 13, you can’t use Discord unless you’re above that threshold.

Discord maintains a list of the minimum ages required by various countries, but cannot guarantee its accuracy:

This is why some countries require users to be over 18 before they can access Discord. For example, in Germany, minors under 16 aren’t allowed to use the platform. In France, people under 15 aren’t allowed on Discord. And in Japan, users must be 18 or older to join Discord servers.

If you want to know what the minimum age requirement is for your country, the easiest way is to check with local regulators. But if you’re looking for an official source from Discord, you’ll have to refer to their list above.

Discord’s Terms of Service state that adults who allow qualifying minors to use the platform accept responsibility for all activity done via their account:

Parent or legal guardian who allows qualifying minor to use this service accepts and agrees to be bound by these Terms of Service. This includes, but is not limited to, any and all use of the Account, including but not limited to activity and purchases made through the Account.

In other words, parents who let their kids use Discord are responsible for everything their kids do while using the platform.

Teen-by-default settings and age verification

Discord announced a new policy that will make teens the default setting for everyone on the platform. Beginning March 2024, all user accounts will default to teen safety settings:

All user accounts will default to teen safety settings beginning March.

The teen-by-default policy restricts adult content and age-restricted spaces for all users until they confirm their age:

[The] teen-by-default policy [restricts] adult content and age-restricted spaces without verification.

Savannah Badalich, Head of Product Policy at Discord, explained that the teen-by-default policy builds on existing safety architecture, giving teens strong protections while allowing verified adults flexibility:

We’re introducing a new teen-by-default experience for everyone on Discord. This builds on our existing safety architecture, giving teens strong protections while allowing verified adults flexibility to access age-restricted content. Our goal is to create a safer and more inclusive experience for users over 13.

Most existing adult users won’t need to manually verify their age under the new system, according to a statement from Discord:

Following user criticism, we’ve updated our announcement. We understand that many people are concerned about being asked to prove their age when they don’t feel like they should have to. We appreciate your feedback and hope you’ll consider how important this change is to us and to our community.

Vast majority of people can continue using Discord exactly as they do today, without ever being asked to confirm their age.

Discord claims that most of its users will be identified automatically by an age inference model, which uses hundreds of signals, such as account tenure and activity data, to determine someone’s age. Users identified as adults will skip the age assurance process entirely, and will be able to access age-restricted content without needing to go through an explicit verification flow.

When the age inference model can’t confirm that a user is an adult, however, Discord offers a number of methods for verifying their age. These include facial scans and government-issued ID checks, which are performed via video selfies. Discord claims that the latter method never leaves the user’s device:

Discord says that it knows that these verification methods aren’t known to work reliably for everyone. It also acknowledges that identity documents used to verify age are deleted quickly — often immediately after age confirmation:

Minors can circumvent the verification process by borrowing IDs, using a virtual private network (VPN), or providing false information. However, strict verification creates a sense of safety without fully eliminating risk.

Rollout pause and criticism

Discord paused its planned global rollout of these teen safety settings last month. The move was part of a broader pause on several other changes related to youth safety:

Discord paused its global rollout of new teen safety settings including age verification and limits on sensitive content.

The pause came just days after the company announced plans to roll out these changes globally. A spokesperson said the decision was based on feedback from customers and partners.

Critics of the move say that Discord’s approach to youth safety is structurally insufficient. Haley McNamara, executive director of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, told Mashable that the company’s safety features fell short:

Discord’s new teen safety features fall far short of what children and families need to stay safe online, especially given the serious risks that exist on platforms like Discord.

McNamara argued that instead of placing the burden of youth safety on parents, companies like Discord should make fundamental design changes to protect young users.

The case context involves an anonymous 11-year-old who allegedly groomed, sexually exploited, and raped her perpetrator, who used Roblox and Discord to communicate with her.