Discord is revising its global age assurance strategy after community criticism of plans to expand Persona-based verification under new teen-by-default settings. In an updated FAQ, the company states that it will not require age verification for “90%+ of users” because most users do not access age-restricted content or can be covered by Discord’s internal age estimation systems without manual intervention. The platform is still committed to teen-by-default accounts but is narrowing when external proof of age is needed, framing the backlash in part as a misunderstanding of the original rollout.
Chief technology officer Stanislav Vishnevskiy acknowledged that identity and verification changes are inherently contentious and clarified that Discord had evaluated Persona for biometric age verification in an experiment in January. He says Discord has decided not to proceed with the Persona partnership because it did not meet the requirement for on-device verification of biometric data. Instead, Discord will require age verification via k-ID in countries such as Australia, Brazil, and the UK, where local regulations demand stronger proof of age and do not permit reliance on Discord’s internal estimation tools. Discord is also adding a new “spoiler” channel type so communities can separate conversations about spoilers and politics from age-restricted spaces.
While Discord pulls back from Persona, Twitch is moving in the opposite direction by adopting Persona as an age verification layer for Twitch partners receiving payments, according to a post on Bluesky. The process asks creators to submit a selfie along with an image of a government ID card, passport, or driver’s license, effectively making Persona a gatekeeper for monetization. This rollout follows reports that hackers found an exposed Persona frontend that highlighted weak security controls and showed links to the US government and a potential mass-surveillance apparatus, which were later partially framed as part of a planned program to verify remote federal workers. The extent of Twitch’s deployment remains unclear, but multiple creators are pushing back through an open letter on Twitch’s User Voices platform, citing growing concerns around Persona’s security, privacy practices, and government connections.
