At Discord, creating a safe and inclusive experience has always been at the heart of what we do. As part of that effort, we're taking another step forward by introducing enhanced safety features for our Australian users.
Discord is a communications service, so we’re not subject to the Social Media Minimum Age requirements that are coming into effect in Australia this week. At the same time, we see this as a moment to further demonstrate our ongoing commitment to teen safety through proactive action.
Starting on December 9th, 2025, all Australian users will have a teen-appropriate default experience that maintains the privacy and community connections that define Discord. This means updated communications settings, restricted access to age-gated spaces, and content filtering — nearly all of which require age assurance to modify or access. Australian users 18 and older can complete a privacy-forward, one-time verification process to access age-restricted content and spaces or adjust relevant settings.
We believe this balanced approach enables appropriate experiences for users of all ages while respecting privacy and maintaining the genuine community atmosphere that makes Discord special.
Privacy-Forward Age Assurance
Age assurance is the foundation of this new experience and is designed to respect user privacy and choice. Users can choose to use facial age estimation or submit a form of identification to our partner k-ID, and we plan to introduce more options in the future. Some users may be asked to use both methods if k-ID decides that more information is needed to assign an age group.
Key privacy protections of our age-assurance approach include:
- On-device processing: Video selfies for facial age estimation never leave your device
- Immediate deletion: Any identity documents submitted to k-ID are deleted immediately after age confirmation
- One-time verification: Complete the process once, and your Discord experience adapts to your verified age group
- Private status: Your verification status and age group are not visible to other users
After completing a chosen method, users will receive confirmation via a direct message from our official Discord account. A user’s assigned age group can be viewed at any time in “My Account” settings. Users can also always go to “My Account” settings to appeal and retry the process. We prompt users to age-assure in Discord. As of today, we do not send emails or text messages about our age assurance process or results.
Default Safety Settings
Starting on December 9th, 2025, all new and existing Discord users in Australia have been assigned new default settings. These updates include setting the Sensitive Content Filter to ‘on’ by default for all users and adding 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 assurance process works.
Content Settings Changes
Our Sensitive Content Filter is enabled by default and automatically detects and blurs potentially sexually explicit and graphic content. Australian users will need to be age-assured as adults in order to unblur this content or turn off the setting. Users will also need to be age-assured as adults to access age-restricted channels, servers, and app commands. Users will only need to verify their age group once. Discord will remember it, so future actions like unblurring sensitive content won’t require another attempt.
Social Settings Changes
All Australian accounts will receive new alerts before accepting friend requests from potentially unfamiliar users who have no mutual friends or shared smaller servers. 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 are enabled by default for all Australian accounts and cannot be turned off at this time.
Similarly, all DMs from non-friends in larger servers will be directed to a Message Request inbox to help users screen and remove unwanted DMs from their DM list. If users want to adjust this setting, they must be in the adult age group. Please visit our help center for more information on our new default settings for Australian users.
These teen-by-default settings build on Discord's existing safety architecture, ensuring teen users have robust protections while giving verified adults the freedom to tailor their experience. We'll continue working closely with safety experts, policymakers, and our community to support meaningful, long-term safety outcomes for teens on Discord.
