Stop saying Discord's hands are tied or they have no choice when it comes to asking people for IDs or government paperwork. Stop pretending they have no choice. They do. Every single step of this is a choice.
They could use facial recognition while people fight these ID laws. I don’t like that either. It’s creepy as hell. But at least it’s not literally handing over your actual real ID or birth certificate or passport to a company.
At the very least, they could just say, “We will not ask for government IDs. Here are the options.” They could make that choice tomorrow. But they aren’t, because companies always try to wash their hands of responsibility.
And you guys are helping them do it when you make excuses for them.
I am on multiple websites that have made the entirely reasonable decision to restrict access to countries that legally require ID verification.
That’s the correct, responsible move. Why? Because the internet is not optional. It is mandatory in modern life. People rely on it for news, communication, education, government updates, social life, activism, jobs.
Entire governments are on some of these platforms, and while they may not rely on discord, the idea is the same. Cutting people off is serious, but sometimes it’s the only way to push back.
if platforms start saying, “Fine. You want to make ID verification mandatory? We’ll restrict access in your country,” it forces governments to make a choice.
Either they accept being partially cut off from the global internet, or they back off and loosen draconian laws.
It also forces the hands of citizens. People who would otherwise cave and hand over their info because they have spines made of gummy worms now have real incentive to push back.
They see the cost of compliance, and they get angry. They start asking questions. They start talking.
Discord has literally proven that it can roll out these systems selectively, country by country.
So why are we bending over backwards pretending it must apply to everyone, everywhere, regardless of local laws? If a country wants to be draconian, restrict it there.
Do not punish the rest of the world.
I live in a country where ID age verification laws do not exist. I should not have to bend to another country’s laws just because Discord wants to play it safe.
Stop acting like they’re helpless. They’re not.
Every single company has choices. Sometimes those choices are inconvenient or costly. Sometimes they’re unpopular. But pretending they’re powerless is just enabling authoritarianism.
And tbqh this isn’t just a tech kinna problem. It’s a privacy problem, an autonomy problem, and a government accountability problem.
Every time you say “oh well, Discord had no choice,” you normalize the idea that oppressive governments get to dictate how platforms treat people everywhere.
The people being affected aren’t faceless. They are real humans in real countries, often under extreme pressure, being told they must hand over private information to access the internet at all.
Meanwhile, citizens in other countries like mine are being forced to comply with laws we don’t even have, because corporations don’t want to deal with pushback.
Companies can fight this.
They already fight when it suits them, when it saves money, when it protects profit, when it protects their brand.
If they can roll out this stuff selectively, they can also refuse to participate in oppressive systems, or restrict access responsibly. The choice is theirs.
Stop letting them hide behind “we had no choice.”
People act like Discord is some powerless victim. It isn’t. It is a company worth 15 billion dollars, with the capability to make these decisions thoughtfully.
If they choose to comply blindly with draconian laws, that is on them. And yes, it is absolutely fair to call that out.
The internet is too important to let companies shrug and say, “we can’t fight it.”
And if they don’t, it is our responsibility to hold them accountable.
