New Jersey filed a lawsuit against Discord on Thursday, alleging that the social platform recklessly exposed children to “harassment, abuse, and sexual exploitation by predators who lurk on the platform.”
The move makes it the first state to sue Discord. Founded in 2015, Discord is a platform where its millions of users can communicate in chatrooms and direct messages. It shot up in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many users were stuck at home and wanted to connect. Children, in particular, make up a “significant portion” of its global 200 million monthly active user base, per the suit.
The New Jersey complaint alleges that Discord knew its safety features and policies wouldn’t actually protect its young user base and didn’t make changes.
“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 seeking easy access to children,” Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a release announcing the lawsuit. “These deceptive claims regarding its safety settings have allowed Discord to attract a growing number of children to use its application, where they are at risk. We intend to put a stop to this unlawful conduct and hold Discord accountable for the harm it has caused our children.”
Discord, for example, doesn’t allow users under the age of 13. However, the platform only requires users to enter their date of birth when creating an account and uses no other systems to verify age. The suit also alleged the platform made it simple for malicious actors to send children explicit content due to its default safety settings.
“As a result of Discord’s decisions, thousands of users were misled into signing up, believing they or their children would be safe when they were really anything but,” Platkin said in the statement.
The complaint cited a number of instances where adults in New Jersey were accused of using the platform to contact children and attempted to engage in conversation, solicit nude pictures and videos, and engage in sexual performance while video chatting.
Discord, for its part, is reportedly denying the attorney general’s claims. In a statement shared with Fast Company, it said: “Discord is proud of our continuous efforts and investments in features and tools that help make Discord safer. Given our engagement with the Attorney General’s office, we are surprised by the announcement that New Jersey has filed an action against Discord today. We dispute the claims in the lawsuit and look forward to defending the action in court.”
New Jersey has taken part in past lawsuits targeting social media platforms for alleged unlawful contact relating to children. It sued TikTok based on “features that keep children and teens online for ever-increasing amounts of time despite the harms that result” and Meta for similar alleged conduct.
Jelentkezéshez jelentkezzen be
EGYÉB POSTS Ebben a csoportban
Whether it’s picking out a new brunch spot or deciding which pants to buy next, the influencer economy has cemented itself as a powerhouse in consumer decision-making—and copy-trading app Du
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has wrapped up its cuts to federal job roles and completed its push against consulting firms. Next on the list: IT service providers supplying system
The Gartner Hype Cycle is a valuable framework for understanding where an emerging technology stands on its journ
Amazon plans to invest $10 billion toward building a campus in North Carolina to expand its cloud
Rather than sitting at home and watching your favorite influencers unbox gifts from their all-expenses-paid brand trip, now the rest of us have a chance to feel like an influencer for a day.
When Spencer Rascoff took over as CEO at the struggling dating app giant Match Group in February, one of his first orders of business was to acquaint himself with all the services under his purvie
