New Jersey AG sues Discord over alleged youngster security failures

New Jersey’s Legal professional Basic Matthew Platkin is suing Discord over the chat firm’s youngster security options. The lawsuit claims that Discord has “misled mother and father in regards to the efficacy of its security controls and obscured the dangers kids confronted when utilizing the appliance.”

The Workplace of the Legal professional Basic and the state’s Division of Client Affairs concluded that Discord violated New Jersey’s Client Fraud Act after a multiyear investigation into the corporate. The main points of the lawsuit are at present sealed, however Platkin’s announcement suggests a couple of methods he plans to argue Discord’s method might have endangered kids. He says the app makes use of default settings that “enable customers to obtain good friend requests from anybody on the app” and that it makes it easy to create an account while you’re underneath 13. In line with Platkin, Discord “solely requires people to enter their date of beginning to determine their age when creating an account.”

When ask for remark, Discord provided the next assertion:

Discord is happy with our steady efforts and investments in options and instruments that assist make Discord safer. Given our engagement with the Legal professional Basic’s workplace, we’re shocked by the announcement that New Jersey has filed an motion towards Discord at the moment. We dispute the claims within the lawsuit and stay up for defending the motion in courtroom.

Discord has launched a number of options over time with the categorical objective of defending youthful customers. Following a report that detailed 35 circumstances involving Discord during which adults have been prosecuted on expenses like “kidnapping, grooming or sexual assault,” the corporate launched its Family Center software, which lets adults observe what their kids do on the app. Teen Safety Assist, additionally launched in 2023, added automated content material filters and a brand new warning system for individuals who violate the apps tips. In 2025, Discord launched a nonprofit coalition referred to as Roost with the categorical objective of growing open-source youngster security instruments.

Discord, like different social platforms, has confronted scrutiny earlier than, and the strain looks as if it is solely going to extend. Again in 2024, California lawmakers proposed the thought of blocking kids’s access to algorithmic social feeds, and simply this 12 months Utah handed an age verification law for app stores, a decidedly blunt method to attempt to assure youngster security.

This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/new-jersey-ag-sues-discord-over-alleged-child-safety-failures-184501604.html?src=rss

Trending Merchandise