Discord delays its global age verification rollout and cuts ties with Peter Thiel-backed verification vendor after upsetting almost everyone on Earth: 'We've made mistakes'

Discord delays its global age verification rollout and cuts ties with Peter Thiel-backed verification vendor after upsetting almost everyone on Earth: ‘We’ve made mistakes’ | PC Gamer Skip to main content Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition UK US Canada Australia Subscribe Sign in View Profile Sign out Search Search PC Gamer Games Hardware News Reviews Guides Video Forum More PC Gaming Show PC Gamer Clips Software Codes Coupons Movies & TV Magazine Newsletter Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or device From$1Subscribe now Don’t miss these Gaming Industry If Xbox is ‘recommitting’ to its console, what does that mean for its recent ‘everything is an Xbox’ strategy? AI ‘No platform gets a free pass’: UK government’s Online Safety Act rules extending to chatbots after Grok fallout Hardware I’ve tested 3 free Discord alternatives in a desperate attempt not to offer up my personal data just to talk to my favorite weirdos Security Security researchers claim Persona, the provider behind Discord’s UK age verification ‘experiment’, performs ‘269 individual verification checks’ on user data, including those for terrorism and espionage Platforms US Department of Homeland Security has reportedly demanded personal information about ICE’s critics from Discord, Reddit, Google, and Meta—and at least 3 of those platforms have complied Platforms Oh, good: Discord’s age verification rollout has ties to Palantir co-founder and panopticon architect Peter Thiel Hardware Age verification checks are now in force in the UK because of the Online Safety Act, but with the Discord fallout, it seems like one bad idea after another Hardware Some users are claiming Discord’s default process priorities are causing performance problems in esports games, so I’ve tested it myself to see what’s going on Software Discord will decide which servers to age-gate ‘with a combination of automated detection with AI validation and human review’ Hardware TeamSpeak claims an ‘incredible surge of new users’ has maxed out its hosting capacity in multiple regions as many would-be voice chatters seek a Discord alternative Hardware Someone has already made a free in-browser 3D model to bypass Discord age verification that ‘works on any potato computer’ AI Judging by the GPT-4o situation, game developers will have a big problem if they get serious about AI chatbot NPCs Hardware Discord clarifies it ‘is not requiring everyone to complete a face scan or upload an ID’ and will ‘confirm your age group using information we already have’ Games Discord’s new age verification rules got you down? Allow me to suggest an alternative: Internet Relay Chat Platforms Here’s what happens if you don’t complete Discord age verification PopularNEW: PC Gamer Clips!Arc RaidersBest PC gearFalloutGame Quizzes Software Platforms Discord Discord delays its global age verification rollout and cuts ties with Peter Thiel-backed verification vendor after upsetting almost everyone on Earth: ‘We’ve made mistakes’ News By Lincoln Carpenter published 24 February 2026 Discord promises greater transparency and more verification options. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter PC Gamer Get the PC Gamer Newsletter Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. 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Subscribe to our newsletter After drawing widespread criticism with the announcement of a new global age assurance policy earlier this month, Discord is now delaying the rollout of its age verification changes until the second half of 2026. In a blog post acknowledging that the company had “missed the mark,” Discord co-creator and CEO Stanislav Vishnevskiy said it’s revising its age verification strategy to address users’ privacy concerns by providing greater transparency and offering alternative verification options.Additionally, Veshnevskiy said Discord has ended its partnership with identity verification vendor Persona, whose financial ties to Palantir founder Peter Thiel intensified the backlash to the company’s age assurance policy. (Image credit: Getty Images – NurPhoto / Contributor)”On top of that, many of you are worried that this is just another big tech company finding new ways to collect your personal data. That we’re creating a problem to justify invasive solutions,” Veshnevskiy. “I get that skepticism. It’s earned, not just toward us, but toward the entire tech industry. But that’s not what we’re doing.” Related articles Oh, good: Discord’s age verification rollout has ties to Palantir co-founder and panopticon architect Peter Thiel ‘There’s no reason for Discord to comply in advance’ with social media age verification laws instead of ‘fighting for their users’ says EFF expert