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Rule by surveillance? This huge social media app is begging angry users to comply with face scans

The Blaze
1 week 6 days ago


Messaging app Discord assured its users that they will not have to show their faces, unless they live in certain places.

In certain regions, users will still be subject to face scans or government ID submission.

'We'll give you options, designed to tell us only your age and never your identity.'

This comes after a data breach in October that saw at least 70,000 images of government-issued IDs stolen through one of Discord's third-party verification services. Proton reported that passports, driver's licenses, names, and IP addresses were stolen, along with user transcripts from conversations they had with support agents.

Still, in February 2025, Discord told users that their profiles would promptly be reverted to teen-level accounts by default, unless they submit to "facial age estimation or submit a form of identification to its vendor partners."

This means that without verification, users could not get message requests, join political chats, or unblur a wide variety of sensitive content.

After some intense backlash, though, Discord is now rolling back its requirements, but only for now.

RELATED: Gamers REVOLT over age-verify scheme subjecting users to 'suspicious entity detection'

Photo by Thomas Fuller/NurPhoto via Getty Images

It seems obvious that Discord still has plans to roll out user verification eventually, but at this time it is leaning toward requiring less intrusive means. However, in some jurisdictions, giving up one's identity is still required by law.

"Where we have legal obligations, we will continue to meet them," the company wrote in a blog post.

In "the U.K., Australia, and Brazil, the law may require platforms to use approved methods like facial age estimation or ID checks," Discord continued, adding that it will be exploring alternative methods of verification in other jurisdictions.

"If you're among the less than 10% of users who do need to verify, we'll give you options, designed to tell us only your age and never your identity."

Simply put, Discord will still be enforcing age restrictions on the user experience.

RELATED: Digital tyrants want your face, your ID … and your freedom

Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP via Getty Images

Discord floated different verification options like credit card verification, while putting limits on companies that use facial age estimation.

"Any partner offering facial age estimation must perform it entirely on-device. If they don't meet that bar, we won't work with them," the company said.

One company that "did not meet that bar" was Persona. Discord ran a "limited test" with the company customer verification service in the U.K. but has since decided not to move forward with it. It is unclear whether this relates to a recent report that showed Persona was not only performing almost 270 cross-reference checks on user face data, but the platform was allegedly set up for, and compliant with, parameters that allow for government access.

While Discord has promised ongoing transparency, it is still moving toward user data collection and will still be using facial scans to do so.

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Andrew Chapados

'The mistake I made': Bill Gates reportedly admits to affairs with Russians, apologizes for Epstein fallout

The Blaze
1 week 6 days ago


The Epstein files released by the Department of Justice last month painted Microsoft co-founder and vaccine champion Bill Gates in a particularly unfavorable light.

Amid uproar over her ex-husband's repeat mention in the files — including in a 2013 email wherein Jeffrey Epstein alleged that he procured for Bill Gates "drugs, in order to deal with consequences of sex with Russian girls" — Melinda French Gates told NPR's "Wild Card" podcast, "It's personally hard whenever those details come up, right? Because it brings back memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage."

'Knowing what I know now makes it, you know, a hundred times worse.'

While French Gates indicated that she has "been able to move on in life," her ex-husband is alternatively still dealing with the consequences of his long-standing association with the notorious child sex offender.

Gates reportedly apologized to the staff of the Gates Foundation for the fallout of his Epstein ties during a town hall on Tuesday, stating, "It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein," according to a recording reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.

Gates, who has not been accused of wrongdoing by any of Epstein's victims and whose spokesperson characterized the claims in the 2013 email as "completely false," reportedly stressed, "I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit."

The billionaire reportedly had an explanation for the photographs in the files featuring him in the company of women whose faces are redacted. Epstein asked to take pictures of his assistants with Gates after meetings, Gates claimed, according to the Journal.

RELATED: Epstein-friendly lesbians managing fraud-plagued Manhattan club in hot water — again

Photo by Leon Neal - WPA Pool /Getty Images

"To be clear, I never spent any time with the victims, the women around him," said Gates, according to the Journal. He noted, however, that he "did have affairs, one with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities."

Gates reportedly suggested further that despite his ex-wife expressing concerns about Epstein in 2013 — five years after he pleaded guilty to solicitation of a minor for prostitution — Gates continued meeting with Epstein.

"Knowing what I know now makes it, you know, a hundred times worse in terms of not only his crimes in the past, but now it’s clear there was ongoing bad behavior," Gates reportedly told staff.

Gates, apparently recognizing that his relationship with Epstein helped boost Epstein's reputation, reportedly apologized "to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake I made."

Gates also recognized the negative impact his Epstein ties have had on the organization previously known as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which became the Gates Foundation last year following the couple's divorce and previous revelations about Bill's ties to Epstein.

"It definitely is the opposite of the values of the Foundation and the goals of the Foundation," said Gates, who has directly and through his foundation worked to shape public health, the news landscape, education policy, AI, American farmland, the energy sector, foreign policy, and the Earth itself.

"And our work is very reputational sensitive," continued the billionaire. "I mean, people can choose to work with us or not work with us."

When asked about the recording and Gates' remarks, the Gates Foundation told Blaze News in a statement, "This was a scheduled townhall with employees, which Bill does twice a year. In the conversation, Bill answered questions submitted by foundation staff on a range of issues, including the release of the Epstein files, the foundation's work in AI, and the future of global health."

The foundation added, "In the townhall, Bill spoke candidly, addressing several questions in detail, and took responsibility for his actions."

"The harm Epstein inflicted on women and girls was horrific, and no one should ever have to experience what they did," the foundation said in a statement earlier this month. "The foundation regrets having any employees interact with Epstein in any way."

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Joseph MacKinnon