Texas Forces Discord to Implement UK-Style Age Verification and Safety Rules Within 90 Days

Texas has put the First Amendment in the crosshairs once more: a temporary injunction now requires Discord to roll out UK-style age verification and restrictive default safety features for every user in the state within 90 days— effectively importing British-style online restrictions onto American citizens.

According to FOX 7 Austin, the injunction was signed by a Collin County judge and requires Discord to implement the protections for Texas users within 90 days. The company must also submit confidential progress reports to the state every 30 days until full compliance is achieved.

The order remains in effect until the underlying case is resolved or a further court order modifies it. Discord does not admit any allegations, liability, or wrongdoing by agreeing to the injunction.

It simply requires the platform to extend to Texas users the same specific age-assurance and default safety features it already provides under its published program for UK users. It also specifies that Discord is not required to collect new categories of personal information to identify Texas users and may ask the court for additional time if it demonstrates that compliance within 90 days is not feasible.

Discord’s age-assurance system is the same one that the company announced for a global rollout earlier this year— this plan triggered massive backlash over biometric data, and the risk of doxxing (as I have covered both times in February). Texas is now requiring that same system for every user in the Lone Star state.

How does Discord’s Safety Rules fair in Texas compared to the United Kingdom?

AD: Preparing to head back to College? Check out the “Off to College!” Shop at Amazon! Offering you the best deals on what you need for life in College.

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Whatever purchase through the affiliate links helps the site.

How Ken Paxton’s ‘Victory’ Threatens the Very Freedom He Claims to Protect:

The state’s response was simple, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the agreement requires Discord to provide Texas children with protections the company already uses in the United Kingdom. His office has framed the Discord order as a victory and a moral crusade to keep “predators away from our kids.”

This forceful rhetoric comes amid recent criticism of a plea deal his office arranged for a Waco attorney accused of sexually abusing a young boy according to a report by the Texas Tribune — a deal that reduced a potential life-sentence felony to misdemeanors with only weeks and no requirement to register as a sex offender in Texas (attorney would later be required to register as a sex offender in Nebraska after moving there and is now barred from practicing law in the state of Texas.) The investigation into Discord itself began in October 2025, and Paxton now campaigning for a seat in the U.S. Senate, raises real questions about political motivation and selective enforcement.

Regardless of how you would feel about Discord’s Safety policies, letting a temporary court’s decision to impose a British-style verification on Texas Discord users is a clear First Amendment issue. When the state pressure forces a company to demand government IDs, and restrict content access for unverified accounts, “child protection” quickly turns into government-mandated censorship. Texas may have won a temporary victory , but the threat to online privacy and free speech is worth worrying about.

Source: FOX 7 Austin, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton

Thanks for reading! If you have any suggestions, news tips, or questions, email them to: webmaster@bigrednerd.com.