Image: Discord
Summary created by Smart Answers AI
In summary:
- PCWorld reports that Discord’s new age verification policy requires users to submit video selfies or ID documents, treating unverified accounts as teens.
- Searches for “delete Discord” have doubled while “Discord alternatives” surged over 10,000 percent following privacy concerns and a recent data breach.
- Stoat emerges as the top alternative with searches increasing nearly 10,000 percent as users abandon Discord for privacy-respecting platforms.
Earlier this week, Discord announced that it would soon begin to treat user accounts as “teens” until they submit to age verification checks, either via video selfies or ID documents. There’s been enormous backlash to this, to say the least. While stronger protections for kids and adults is a noble goal, this isn’t the right way to go about it.
Users are understandably concerned about data privacy and security, especially because Discord suffered a data breach in October. It’s hard to trust Discord when that incident is still fresh in the mind, and users don’t want to upload more of their personal data to the company.
According to Windows Central, Google Search trends show that users are now actively looking for alternatives. Discord’s latest move is such a faux pas that searches for “Discord alternatives” have spiked by over 10,000 percent in the last two days. Meanwhile, searches for “delete Discord” have more than doubled in that time.
The top alternative as of this writing appears to be Stoat, with Google searches for that app surging by over 9,900 percent.
This article originally appeared on our sister publication M3 and was translated and localized from Swedish.
Author: Kristian Kask, Contributor, PCWorld
Kristian is passionate about gadgets and gaming and mainly writes news for our sister sites, M3 and PC for Alla. He also tests products, mainly game accessories, and translates articles from the Foundry network.
