- TeamSpeak has said that new users are overloading its servers
- This comes as Discord refuses to do a U-turn on age verification checks.
- There are concerns about how securely Discord will store user ID information.
Discord’s plans to verify the age of all its users are not working out very well, to put it mildly, as another Discord alternative, TeamSpeak, is having server issues caused by all the people flocking to its platform to escape age checks.
This follows recent reports that Stoat, formerly known as Revolt, is also experiencing server capacity issues caused by the Discord exodus. Although these companies do not seem frustrated by the influx of new users, as TeamSpeak is talking about the problems online.
With the incredible increase in new users joining TeamSpeak and subscribing to communities, the current hosting capacity has been reached in many regions, especially the United States. We are working to expand availability in additional regions. Thank you for your patience as… pic.twitter.com/nyzjirx9VMFebruary 14, 2026
The central issue for many users is that Discord’s age verification checks may require them to hand over an ID, and after Discord admitted that around 70,000 user IDs were leaked last October to hackers, people are justifiably uneasy about handing over more data.
Discord has said that you may not need to provide identification if you are an adult. Facial scans might also be enough, and it claims that “most” adults will be able to avoid these scans and ID checks entirely through what it calls its “age inference system,” which will judge your age based on your Discord activity, such as how long you’ve had an account and your device data (though not the content of your message).
Still, if these checks fail, you may have to hand over your ID, and for many, any type of check can seem invasive and potentially dangerous. Talking to him Eret, the BBC’s popular LGBTQ+ content creator, highlighted that “many people use the online world as a place where they can talk about things that they may not feel safe talking about with people in the real world, where being queer could result in being prosecuted.”
Even if it’s not a full ID, if an image and/or full name is connected to an online profile and then that information is leaked, it could have significant consequences for people from marginalized communities.
As another creator, Pikachulita, also noted: “We live in a time where it’s not too far-fetched to believe that companies like Discord could share this data with state or federal agencies, in the US or elsewhere, for their benefit.” There are not simply fears that data will be maliciously stolen, but that the companies that store it will intentionally share it, and with the US Department of Homeland Security requesting information on anti-ICE accounts from social media platforms (via The New York Times, behind a paywall), one can understand where these concerns might come from.
However, the elephant in the room for new users of TeamSpeak and Stoat is that these platforms may also need to impose age controls for some users.
In the United Kingdom, the government has expressed plans to expand its Online Safety Act, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying that “No social media platform should have a free hand when it comes to protecting our children.” (via PC Gamer). It was apparently more related to AI chatbots and VPNs, the use of which the Government could also prohibit or restrict for young people, but which would also probably extend to other platforms that, for now, go unnoticed.
So while they are something of a safe haven from age verification for now, it’s unclear how long that will last.
Although if they can convince users that their ID data will be truly private and maintain a positive history, they could avoid the situation Discord currently finds itself in. We’ll have to wait and see.
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