In short: We ask for age confirmation to protect the server in the case of a user lying about their age. Discord's NSFW channel locks and ToS protects the server.

In long: The only other possible method of age verification would be to have all users submit an image of their government-issue ID, such as a driver's license or passport, with a piece of paper next to it that contains their Discord username. But what about people who don't have those? They'll never be able to join under such strict rules and regulations.

Some users may not feel comfortable submitting their government-issue ID, and that is perfectly understandable; we aren't a legally-bound entity, such as an online ID verification company. The difference between showing us government-issue ID and the bouncer of a club is the bouncer is bound by contract to never leak such information. This is not something possible for the moderators of the Den.

Even if it was just an image with personal details blocked out, that is still your photo on there, your face, being shown to strangers, people you don't know. Not many people would feel comfortable with that, especially linking your IRL life to your shipping life within a fandom that has 'witch-hunts' who try to dox people and make them lose their jobs and livelihoods... over shipping fictional characters.

The mere act of asking for someone to send a photo of government-issue ID as a form of age-verification could be considered breaking Discord's Terms of Service, as it could be seen as an "attempt to obtain passwords or other private information from other members;"—As stated, we are not a legal entity with permission to do this, Discord likely won't protect us asking for ID the way an employer would protect a worker selling alcohol asking for ID.

It's a known possibility that, even with all private information blacked out/drawn over, there are ways for people to remove those. They can reveal the personal information hidden underneath. If any moderator's account were to be compromised, it could compromise the personal details of ALL server members. We do not wish to put anyone at risk like that.

All channels in the den where chatting may occur is considered an 'Age-Restricted Channel'. This means, in order to access these channels, the user must agree that they are 18+ and willing to see adult content. This is legally-binding in Discord's Terms of Service. Someone lying about being 18+ on Discord does not put US at fault, since we followed ToS and ensured all NSFW was behind an NSFW wall. The user is the one that breached ToS and is at risk of losing their account/further action being taken.

If Discord is suspicious of an account's age, it will lock the account and request ID verification. Discord itself is allowed to do this, as they are a legally-bound entity, unlike the moderators within the Den.

If you want an adult-only Discord server that uses ID verification, you are welcome to join those—off the top of my head, I know; Adultcord, Kinky Playhouse, Kinsters Unite, Wet Candy, Jinx, Sinful, The Hangout Hub, The Kinky Dip, and many others.

It is very rare you will find a shipping server that requests ID verification. None of the servers we are partnered with do this, as far as we are aware. The difference between the above servers and the Den is the above is specifically for adult NSFW interactions between members, rather than talking about fictional characters. They're advertised as 'Dating Servers' and have 'Verified Seller' roles. They're made with the intent of people sharing nudes and being sexual with one another, which poses a higher risk for minors lying about their age and being put in dangerous situations compared to fans talking about shipping nonexistent characters.

Twitter doesn't enforce ID age verification, nor does AO3, Tumblr, or even Pornhub. The Den is protected by Discord's Terms of Service, if someone were to lie about their age. By technicality, there is no 'requirement' for us to verify ages at all and we would not face legal consequences, as long as all NSFW-related talk is within channels labelled as an 'Age-Restricted Channel'. We check and cross-verify ages to social media accounts for the comfort of our members, as an extra 'layer' of security, something that is within our bounds and rights that doesn't infringe on ToS or other user's privacy.

If you do not like how we verify ages, you are welcome to create your own space to suit your comfort. 💚❤️