Adapting Discord For The UK Online Safety Act

If you are a UK user and are looking for the full details on changes to your account, please visit our help center article here.

The United Kingdom's Online Safety Act (“OSA”) introduces new responsibilities for online platforms to reduce safety risks and provide age-appropriate experiences for users, especially teens. As this legislation comes into effect, we want to outline the changes that all UK users will see across Discord starting today. 

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While the UK Online Safety Act calls for new requirements specifically for UK users, these changes build on our existing safety architecture and represent our ongoing commitment to age-appropriate experiences worldwide.

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Starting today, all UK users will experience new default settings designed to create a teen-appropriate experience by default while preserving Discord's community magic. These defaults include automatic content filtering (which is already on for teens everywhere) as well as privacy settings that can help limit exposure to potentially harmful materials and interactions. UK users who wish to access content flagged by our filters or customize certain settings can do so by completing a one-time age verification process to confirm they are 18 or older. Our new privacy-forward age verification experience is required in specific scenarios that meet the OSA’s requirements (more details below), while building on our commitment to fostering genuine connections and a positive online experience.

Privacy-Forward Age Verification

Age verification is the backbone of this new experience. And the verification experience is designed to respect user privacy, whether users choose to use facial age estimation or submit a form of identification, along with any future methods we may introduce. 

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Many people, teens especially, may not have access to identification documents, and we believe it is important to offer users alternative ways to access the Discord experience. That’s why we’re partnering with k-ID to offer facial age estimation as well as identity document checks, both of which are done with user privacy and accuracy in mind. 

Privacy-protecting process. Discord and k-ID do not permanently store personal identity documents or any biometric data. Identity documents are deleted after a user’s age group is confirmed, and the video selfies used for facial age estimation never leaves their device. 

Verify once. After completing verification, users’ Discord experience is tailored to their verified age group, and they won't be prompted again.

Users can always re-verify. If we incorrectly verify a user into the teen age group, they can always retry the verification process.

Visible only to the user. Other users can’t see their verification status or verified age group. That information is private to them.

After completing the age verification process, users receive confirmation via direct message from our official Discord account. Verification status can always be viewed in user settings in the “My Account” page.

Default Safety Settings

Starting today, all new and existing Discord users in the UK have been assigned new default settings. These updates include setting the Sensitive Content Filter to ‘on’ by default for all users and the addition of new alerts when evaluating Friend Requests from someone they may not know. Once users verify they are in the adult age group (18+), they can adjust and disable these settings. Check out our help center to learn more about how the age verification process works.

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Content Settings Changes

Our Sensitive Content Filter is enabled by default, automatically detecting and blurring possible mature sexual content in chats and channels. Starting today, UK users will need to age verify in order to unblur this content or turn off the setting. Users will also need to verify that they are in the adult age group to access age-restricted channels. Users will only need to verify their age group once. Once a user has verified their age group, they won’t need to do it again. Discord will remember it, so future actions like unblurring sensitive content won’t require another verification.

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Social Settings Changes

All UK accounts will receive new alerts before accepting friend requests from potentially unfamiliar users where there are no shared mutual friends or small servers (under 200 members). These alerts can help users make informed decisions about new connections, encouraging users to take a moment to consider whether they want to connect with someone outside their existing network. These alerts cannot be turned off at this time.

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Similarly, all DMs from non-friends (who are only in mutual servers greater than 200 members) will be directed to a Message Request inbox to help users screen out unwanted DMs from their DM list. If users want to turn off Message Requests (so that all new messages will appear in their DM list), they will need to verify into the adult age group.

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A user’s activity status–such as what game they’re playing on their computer or a connected device–will not be shared to large servers with 200+ members. Users can adjust this setting if they choose.

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Please visit our help center to learn more about our new default settings for UK users.

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What’s coming next

Supporting our users’ well-being is at the heart of our work here at Discord. While this update is focused on UK users, we continue to invest in features that create age-appropriate experiences for our global community as we work with key stakeholders across the industry, as well as parents, digital wellness experts and regulators worldwide. Every region has different needs, and we’re committed to building experiences that empower users as they continue to use our platform.

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NB - this blog is  duplicated from Discord’s safety blog

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