Discord over Discord triggers surge for alternative TeamSpeak

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Instant messaging and social media platform Discord continues to face significant user backlash after announcing its age verification measures. 

A growing wave of defections has seen competitors, including TeamSpeak, struggle with server overloads as thousands of users flee from Discord to avoid new mandatory protocols.

The migration follows the platform’s refusal to reverse plans to verify the age of its entire user base. TeamSpeak recently reported that the sheer volume of new arrivals has caused capacity issues, a trend mirrored by other alternatives such as Stoat.

While these platforms are finding humour in the situation through online memes, the underlying cause for the exodus is rooted in serious privacy and safety concerns.

With the incredible surge of new users joining TeamSpeak and subscribing to communities, current hosting capacity has been reached in many regions, especially in the United States. We’re working on expanding availability across additional regions.

Thank you for your patience as… pic.twitter.com/nyzjirx9VM

— TeamSpeak (@teamspeak) February 14, 2026

Controversy over age checks

The core of the dispute lies in how Discord intends to confirm user ages. Under the new system, users may be required to provide official government identification or undergo facial recognition scans.

While Discord claims an “age inference system” will allow many adults to bypass these steps based on account activity and device data, the safety net is not guaranteed. If the automated system fails, the requirement for sensitive personal data becomes mandatory.

This requirement has sparked widespread alarm, particularly following a major security breach last October when the IDs of 70,000 users were leaked to hackers.

Also, while originally the company assured users that video selfies submitted for facial age estimation would “never leave a user’s device,” according to Eurogamer  British users have recently discovered a quiet update which reveals that some may now be funnelled through a different vendor, Persona, where verification data will actually leave their phone.

Beyond external hacking threats, there is a deep-seated fear regarding how the data will be used by Discord itself. Content creators and advocacy groups have highlighted that many marginalized individuals use Discord as a safe haven to discuss topics they cannot safely navigate in the physical world.  There are mounting concerns that this data could be shared with, or seized by, state and federal agencies.

Popular creators have pointed to recent instances of government agencies requesting data on political activists as proof that these fears are not unfounded. As one user noted, the possibility of tech companies sharing data with authorities for political or federal benefit is no longer “far-fetched.”

For those who rely on the internet for anonymity and safety, the move to platforms like TeamSpeak, which currently lack such rigorous requirements, is seen as a necessary step to protect their security.

Discord age verification data in the UK will leave phone, report claims

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