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It's been about 10 days since Discord revealed that it would be implementing its controversial age verification and "Teen-by-Default" stance globally after a test run in the UK and Australia . The news was met with a severe backlash from its massive community.
Users flooded social channels like Reddit and X with posts talking about canceled Nitro subscriptions, deleted accounts, and Discord alternatives, causing Discord to go into damage control mode.
The company was quick to offer clarification on the new rules; not every user would be forced to submit a government ID or a facial scan to be considered an adult. Not because of any sort of trust, but because Discord's background monitoring could already determine "with high confidence" who is an adult and who is underage.
It's well worth pointing out that this update on X received a Community Note exposing Discord's decision to use Persona as an age verification vendor, which has ties to Peter Thiel of Palantir notoriety. Persona indeed receives and retains data despite what Discord claims — more on that in a moment.
A majority of Windows Central readers are searching for a Discord alternative
The backlash, in my opinion, was deserved, and I know I'm not alone. I ran a poll at the end of my original news story about global Discord age verification, asking whether or not Windows Central readers would be switching to an alternative voice chat and socializing platform.
Out of more than 200 responses, 59% voted Yes, with another 27% coming in as a Maybe.That leaves 15% of readers who say they're sticking with Discordno matter what.
I wrote a follow-up story covering the fact that searches for "Discord alternatives" spiked 10,000% overnight following the age verification news, noting that Stoat — an open-source chat platform akin to Discord — saw a 9,900% rise in searches in the same period.
Most of the comments on the article explained reasons for leaving, with some offering alternatives of which they're most fond.
I've been a Nitro subscriber for almost 10 years, and I'm looking at jumping ship. This is just the last straw though... Discord has been getting steadily worse over the years.
PJthePlayer
In a separate poll attached to the search news, 48% of polled Windows Central readers agree that Stoat looks like the best alternative, with Matrix and TeamSpeak garnering 15% and 14% of the votes, respectively.
TeamSpeak has publicly stated that it's receiving an "incredible surge of new users" and is working on expanding its availability in key regions, so I can't imagine what Stoat is going through considering it seems like the more popular choice.
Discord and its newfound ties to Peter Thiel
The outrage from Discord's community regarding age verification is anything but baseless. Discord was subject to a data breach of about 70,000 credentials last year, including IDs and facial scans.
Discord believed it could distance itself from security concerns by claiming it had switched to a different age verification vendor that doesn't retain data, but it was quickly discovered that this wasn't entirely true. The new vendor, Persona, is indirectly funded by Peter Thiel, who founded Palantir, an AI-powered data surveillance juggernaut. That may or may not be a big deal in your world.
The bigger problem? Persona clearly states that it retains data it receives, flying in the face of Discord's claims. According to Kotaku , Discord has stated that its use of Persona was a "limited test" that has now concluded. Will it continue working with the vendor? Your guess is as good as mine.
Discord is undeniably in a tough spot. It believes age verification is necessary to safeguard its younger users, but the way it's being handled is anything but smooth. It's not an enviable position, and it will be interesting to see how the situation plays out.
Share your thoughts about Discord's age verification drama
Think the outrage over Discord's age verification stance is warranted? Think it's a necessary step for a company with so many users? Have you found the perfect alternative? I want to hear about it in the comments section!
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