Attorney General James Uthmeier has filed a lawsuit against Discord, alleging the communication platform deceived parents about its safety and failed to protect minors from sexual predators.
The 65-page complaint, filed in the 20th Judicial Circuit Court in Glades County, alleges Discord does not require proper age verification, leaving children at risk. Uthmeier announced the suit at a news conference.
“We’ve arrested more than 2,100 child predators in this state since I took office,” Uthmeier said.
“Again and again, their trail to our kids leads back to Discord. Discord told parents that safety is at the core of everything they do. That was false. It’s time for this app to get serious about protecting our children or face serious consequences.”
The complaint alleges the company, which bills itself as “all fun & games,” has not required age verification, allowing adults to pose as children with nothing more than an email address and a birthday.
Discord announced an age assurance system and new teen safety settings Sept. 22.
But Uthmeier focused on the history of incidents involving minors and predators on Discord in the past several years.
Uthmeier cited a 60-year-old St. Cloud man whom investigators found posing as a 14-year-old boy and contacting nearly 300 minors on the platform. He also pointed to a Highlands County case in which a 19-year-old man was accused of using Roblox to lure an 11-year-old girl from Miami-Dade County to Discord. She was later sexually assaulted and kidnapped. That case prompted a lawsuit from the girl’s family.
Uthmeier’s complaint lists several other instances. The lawsuit follows a civil investigation he launched against Discord in March.
The suit alleges violations of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and Florida’s law protecting children in online spaces. It also brings claims for negligence, negligent misrepresentation and public nuisance.
The state is asking the court to permanently bar Discord from the practices alleged, including operating without real age verification and collecting children’s data without parental consent. Uthmeier is seeking civil penalties of up to $10,000 per willful violation of the deceptive practices act, $50,000 per violation of the state’s online child protection law, and $150,000 per violation where Discord knew a user was under 18, plus damages and restitution, among other relief.
The lawsuit comes as Uthmeier has stepped up child predator investigations since Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed him last year.
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