Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month https://www.theverge.com/tech/875309/discord-age-verification-global-roll-out
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@verge bye bye discord, what's the problem?
@netskaven @verge Stoat — Open-Source Discord-Alternative
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@netskaven The immediate* problem is all the people who will be like "well, that's annoying, but I guess we have to do it" and won't make any effort to move their communities.
(...and it's easier to say "well then, you don't need that community if they're going to be like that" than it is to actually do it, in many cases.)
*edit; there are additional layers to this.
@woozle @netskaven @verge Stoat — Open-Source Discord-Alternative
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Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month https://www.theverge.com/tech/875309/discord-age-verification-global-roll-out
@verge I'm not going to quit yet, but I for sure just canceled my Nitro which I've had for quite a while. If they think I'm not an adult, then I'm not going to pay them like I am.
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Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month https://www.theverge.com/tech/875309/discord-age-verification-global-roll-out
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Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month https://www.theverge.com/tech/875309/discord-age-verification-global-roll-out
@verge
All these corprite services are just going to keep doing it. STOP USING THEM.
We dont need them, #TakeTheInternetBack -
Even if they're now spoiled rotten by llms, search engines still work well enough to look for them. If your community is to move, it has to be a collective decision and they should do some work too.
@PandaCab Yes, ideally.
(Not sure what you mean about using search engines to "look for them" -- to which "them" are you referrring?)
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@verge what exactly is the problem with this feature? How I understand, discord ist still accessible without any ID check, only adult content will be locked behind a verification wall, which isn’t something bad I think. Other platforms like reddit should do so as well, just asking for age isn’t really a working strategy
@gerenuk @verge The problem is that you can never, ever trust an online platform to keep your data safe.
And speaking specifically about Discord, back in October 2025 their third-party age verification provider was hacked and 70,000 users had their ID "potentially leaked" (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8jmzd972leo).
You can't really change the details on your ID, such as your social security number (US) / personal numeric code and other serialized information that is highly specific to YOU, which makes this info a lot more valuable to a hacker than a CC which can be cancelled and re-issued.
And that's just Discord.
AU10TIX, a platform used by X/Twitter, TikTok, Uber, LinkedIn, Fiverr, PayPal, based in Israel had been leaking drivers' licenses for over a year before it was discovered in 2024. The credentials were harvested in 2022 and posted to Telegram in 2023 (https://www.techdirt.com/2024/06/28/yet-another-id-verification-service-breached-exposing-private-info-collected-on-behalf-of-uber-tiktok-more/).
Sharing your ID should be the last thing you should ever do on the Internet.
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@netskaven @verge @woozle yeah many of my discord friends are like "Twitter sucks so I'm just going to quit social media entirely" rather than try something else, so I expect it will be "just going to quit discord, bye"
@kinsale42 aka "the water this baby is in is totally dirty now, so time to toss the whole thing..." yeah.
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@PandaCab Yes, ideally.
(Not sure what you mean about using search engines to "look for them" -- to which "them" are you referrring?)
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@gerenuk @verge The problem is that you can never, ever trust an online platform to keep your data safe.
And speaking specifically about Discord, back in October 2025 their third-party age verification provider was hacked and 70,000 users had their ID "potentially leaked" (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8jmzd972leo).
You can't really change the details on your ID, such as your social security number (US) / personal numeric code and other serialized information that is highly specific to YOU, which makes this info a lot more valuable to a hacker than a CC which can be cancelled and re-issued.
And that's just Discord.
AU10TIX, a platform used by X/Twitter, TikTok, Uber, LinkedIn, Fiverr, PayPal, based in Israel had been leaking drivers' licenses for over a year before it was discovered in 2024. The credentials were harvested in 2022 and posted to Telegram in 2023 (https://www.techdirt.com/2024/06/28/yet-another-id-verification-service-breached-exposing-private-info-collected-on-behalf-of-uber-tiktok-more/).
Sharing your ID should be the last thing you should ever do on the Internet.
@gerenuk @verge "only adult content will be locked behind a verification wall, which isn’t something bad I think"
A noble idea, but the execution is abysmal, because lawmakers are lobbied by right-wing, conservative groups like the EPP (EU) and bi-partisan bills such as KOSA to basically implement a blunt tool, a sledgehammer, where only a hammer is needed. Everyone is looking for a magical solution to this that is unhackable, unbreachable, safe, secure, etc.
But the solution just isn't sending your ID to third-party for-profit companies around the world, which then at the some point end up in the hands of advertisers and hackers.
EDRi has a great article on the pitfalls and actual solutions that we can implement instead of this digital age verification bullshit: https://edri.org/our-work/age-verification-gains-traction-eu-risks-failing-to-address-the-root-causes-of-online-harm/
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I found at least 4, with various degrees of similitudes with discord.
Also, I have to point out the very obvious: you won't be able to leave discord and get the same thing. I know it is silly to point out, but in my experience, it is hard to really internalise for many.
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I found at least 4, with various degrees of similitudes with discord.
Also, I have to point out the very obvious: you won't be able to leave discord and get the same thing. I know it is silly to point out, but in my experience, it is hard to really internalise for many.
Nobody's asking for identical; just similar-enough (...like Discord vs. Slack)
What are the 4(+) you found?
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Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month https://www.theverge.com/tech/875309/discord-age-verification-global-roll-out
@verge I'll jump ship when the pop-up appears for this. We've already seen enough nonsense that shows how harmful this can be.
Unfortunately, moving on from these non-federated platforms is such a pain since you gotta either force people to move with you or forego that contact.
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Nobody's asking for identical; just similar-enough (...like Discord vs. Slack)
What are the 4(+) you found?
I have to ask: what if there is nothing similar? This is what I mean by "not get the same thing".
I still have to try them but the alternatives I found (again, to be fair, I haven't tried yet) pumble, guilded, rocket.chat and mattermost.
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I have to ask: what if there is nothing similar? This is what I mean by "not get the same thing".
I still have to try them but the alternatives I found (again, to be fair, I haven't tried yet) pumble, guilded, rocket.chat and mattermost.
Somewhere I typed up a list of my requirements (I can't speak for everyone); I'll have to dig that up..
Revolt does actually meet them all, afaict; the only obstacles are logistical/strategic.
I'm familiar(ish) with RocketChat and Mattermost, but was underwhelmed; I'll have to investigate the other two (thanks for the leads!).
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Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month https://www.theverge.com/tech/875309/discord-age-verification-global-roll-out
@verge@mastodon.social
I wish that the people on discord would actively switch to an alternative but theres nothing that is "drop-in" necessarily.
Everything is too hard for the normy to actually want to use.
All my normy friends will not care and just be slightly annoyed by it.
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Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month https://www.theverge.com/tech/875309/discord-age-verification-global-roll-out
@verge Discord self-destructs
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Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month https://www.theverge.com/tech/875309/discord-age-verification-global-roll-out
@verge Wooow... I'd have to jump ship soon then.
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Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month https://www.theverge.com/tech/875309/discord-age-verification-global-roll-out
@verge strange optics considering they got hacked and this data got leaked for their UK users
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Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month https://www.theverge.com/tech/875309/discord-age-verification-global-roll-out
@verge What?! Why do they always want an ID? Why can't they tell people to go to the DMV for once? Can't they at least make the surveillance inconvenient?
