Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said his office would be investigating Discord, an online platform for group communication and online communities, for allegedly harboring online predators.
He made the announcement March 18 at the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office.
After investigating other social media apps, like Roblox, TikTok and Snapchat, Uthmeier is turning his attention to Discord, where he said there have been countless instances of abuse.
The initiative is part of Uthmeier’s ongoing child predator takedown operation, which he said has amounted to 1,400 child predator arrests since he took office in February 2025.
Numerous subpoenas were issued to Discord to aid in Uthmeier’s investigation. They’ll be asking for information regarding marketing and promotional materials that discuss the platform’s safety for children, along with any evidence that shows the company has knowledge that adults are pretending to be children on the app.
“I believe the government should only interfere in the private sector when it is truly essential,” Uthmeier said. “This is one of those occasions. There’s no free speech right to let our kids be hurt. There’s no free market principle to allow dangerous evil villains and predators to go after our kids.”
A request for comment is pending with the company, which is based in San Francisco.
Does Discord have an age requirement?
Discord has strict age restrictions, requiring users to be at least 13 years old to create an account, according to the company’s terms of service. It’s “widely used for online communication via messaging, audio, and video calls,” according to Uthmeier’s office.
As of 2026, Discord enforces age-restricted, 18+ content through mandatory age assurance via an ID check or video selfie for accessing mature servers. If a user is found to be under 13, their account will be banned.
Uthmeier said that suspects will start on more innocuous apps and then want to move to Discord because they think it would be harder to track by parents or law enforcement.
Under legislation (HB 3) that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law in March 2024, Florida bars anyone under 16 from using social media platforms, except for 14- and 15-year-olds who obtain parental permission.
At first, the law essentially wasn’t in effect because a federal judge had blocked its enforcement. But his order was struck down in November by appellate judges who sided with the state, saying the law promotes the government’s interest in “protecting minors.”
Uthmeier finally issued an ultimatum March 9, saying tech companies would have 30 days to implement age restrictions on social media and 60 days for parental consent options to be available. Otherwise, he said his office would start filing lawsuits against platforms.
More: Florida’s social media law for teens heads to appeals court
It’s still up to parents to monitor their children’s social media usage to ensure they don’t become victims, Sarasota County Sheriff Kurt Hoffman added.
Hoffman said a number of social media apps have weak protections because there is no age-verification, and he hopes barriers will be reexamined to protect victims who can be as young as 6 or 7.
“Collectively, we can all make a difference in the lives of our children,” Hoffman said.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
Melissa Pérez-Carrillo covers breaking news and public safety for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Reach out at mperezcarrillo@gannett.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Florida attorney general’s child predator crackdown reaches Discord
