Discord faces lawsuit filed by New Jersey attorney general | #childsafety | #kids | #chldern | #parents | #schoolsafey

• The lawsuit filed by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin claims Discord misleads parents about safety features.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin filed a lawsuit Thursday against Discord Inc., accusing the popular messaging platform of misleading parents about its safety features and exposing children to explicit content and online predators in violation of state consumer protection laws.

The complaint, filed in state Superior Court in Essex County, follows a multiyear investigation by the Attorney General’s Office and the Division of Consumer Affairs. It alleges that Discord engaged in deceptive business practices by falsely marketing itself as a safe platform for children while making deliberate design choices that put minors at risk.

“Discord markets itself as a safe space for children, despite being fully aware that the application’s misleading safety settings and lax oversight has made it a prime hunting ground for online predators,” Platkin said. “We intend to put a stop to this unlawful conduct and hold Discord accountable for the harm it has caused our children.”

The complaint focuses in part on Discord’s “Safe Direct Messaging” feature, which was prominently promoted between 2017 and 2023. The feature claimed that it automatically scanned and deleted explicit content in private messages. But the state said Discord’s default setting — “My friends are nice” — failed to scan messages from anyone designated as a “friend,” leaving a significant loophole in its protections. Officials say this allowed children to receive unfiltered, explicit content from strangers posing as peers.

Even though its terms of service prohibit users under 13, Discord only requires users to self-report their age with no meaningful verification process. Prosecutors and news reports have documented repeated cases of adults using the platform to contact and exploit children, including instances of sextortion and the circulation of child sexual abuse material. In several criminal cases, the victims were younger than 13.

The complaint also outlines how Discord’s platform encourages broad, unsupervised interaction through features like public servers, customizable profiles, and student hubs focused on kid-friendly games like Roblox. By default, users can receive friend requests and messages from others in the same server, which often contain thousands — or even millions — of members.

“Discord claims that safety is at the core of everything it does, but the truth is, the application is not safe for children,” said Cari Fais, director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. “By filing this lawsuit, we’re sending a clear message that New Jersey will not allow businesses to grow their customer base through unlawful and deceptive practices, especially when those practices put children at grave risk.”

The lawsuit seeks an injunction barring Discord from further violations, civil penalties, and the disgorgement of profits earned through these alleged deceptive practices in New Jersey.

Discord’s website includes a safety page explaining some of the company’s security measures.

The legal action follows similar lawsuits filed by the state against TikTok and Meta, parent company of Instagram and Facebook, as part of a broader effort to hold tech platforms accountable for failing to protect young users.

Discord, headquartered in San Francisco and launched in 2015, has grown into one of the world’s most widely used communication apps, particularly among younger audiences. As of Thursday afternoon, the company had not publicly responded to the lawsuit.