New Jersey’s officials have declared their intention to take legal action against the messaging platform Discord, alleging insufficient child safety features and concealing potential hazards associated with its use.
New Jersey’s Attorney General, Matthew J. Platkin, along with other state authorities, has filed a lawsuit against Discord, claiming that they deceived parents regarding the safety of their children while utilizing the platform and did not establish robust enough parental controls to ensure child safety.
As a concerned citizen, I recently learned that a comprehensive investigation led by the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General and Division of Consumer Affairs unveiled conduct by Discord that breached New Jersey’s consumer protection laws. This behavior allegedly made it possible for minors in New Jersey to encounter sexual and violent content on the platform, potentially placing them at risk from online predators using the Discord app.
They’re urging Discord to take swift action to reinforce their security mechanisms aimed at preventing underage users from joining the platform, as well as confiscating any earnings that Discord has obtained through accounts belonging to users under 13 years old.
New Jersey hits Discord with lawsuit
As a gamer, I’ve learned that New Jersey’s authorities have been scrutinizing Discord’s business methods and security measures for quite some time now. After thorough examination, they decided to lodge a complaint against the company, a move that wasn’t unexpected given their findings.
It’s been alleged that Discord hasn’t effectively enforced its rules which prevent kids younger than 13 from using the platform, with their lax security being a significant point of worry.
According to Discord’s Terms of Service, users must be at least 13 years old or older as per the laws in their country. However, the platform only asks for a user’s date of birth during account creation, with no further verification process.
Unlike many platforms, Discord doesn’t enforce age or identity verification for its users. Implementing basic verifications might have helped to deter potential predators from setting up fraudulent profiles and more efficiently keep younger users under 13 from accessing the app.
Additionally, it suggests that kids can effortlessly connect to a server housing over a million users, enabling any user on the same server to directly message them without any limitations due to their shared membership.
As a passionate user, I can’t help but voice my concerns about Discord, particularly the ease with which users can create multiple accounts if they are banned. This allegation, among others, claims that their “Safe Direct Messaging” feature doesn’t go far enough in safeguarding children, and it’s these offenses that New Jersey considers a breach of their Consumer Fraud Act.
For a number of years, Discord deliberately decided against enhancing its age verification system, which resulted in minors under the age of 13 being able to use the platform without restriction, even though they are particularly at risk from online sexual predators.
Essentially, while Discord claims to prioritize safety for parents, it appears that certain design choices and default settings like Safe Direct Messaging and age verification systems don’t align with this promise. Consequently, many users, thinking they or their kids would be secure, unknowingly signed up, only to discover that the platform wasn’t as safe as advertised.
TopMob reached out to Discord to get a response on the matter, and they had this to say:
We at Discord take great pride in consistently enhancing our platform’s safety through features and resources. However, we were taken aback by the news that New Jersey has initiated legal action against us today. We strongly contest the allegations made in the lawsuit and are eager to present our case in court.
In the last few months, Discord hasn’t only faced one legal challenge. A class action lawsuit was filed against them towards the end of 2024, alleging that it is excessively challenging to cancel their Nitro subscription service.
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2025-04-17 23:19