The New Jersey Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against Discord, accusing the company of misleading consumers about its child safety features on the popular gaming-focused messaging platform. Filed in the New Jersey Superior Court by Attorney General Matthew Platkin and the state’s Division of Consumer Affairs, the complaint alleges Discord violated state consumer fraud laws by misleading parents and children about the app’s safety mechanisms.
The lawsuit claims Discord used difficult-to-navigate safety settings that created a false sense of security among users while failing to adequately enforce its minimum age requirement. The legal filing states that Discord’s actions, including knowingly allowing children to be targeted and exploited on the platform, constitute “unconscionable and/or abusive commercial acts or practices.” The attorneys further argue that the company’s conduct is “offensive to public policy.”
In response, a Discord spokesperson expressed disagreement with the allegations, stating that the company takes pride in its continuous efforts to improve safety features. The spokesperson added that Discord was surprised by the legal action, given their ongoing engagement with the Attorney General’s office.
One key issue in the lawsuit involves Discord’s age-verification process, which the plaintiffs claim is flawed. They argue that children under the age of thirteen can easily bypass the app’s age restrictions by lying about their age. Another significant allegation is that Discord misled parents about the effectiveness of its Safe Direct Messaging feature. The company promoted this feature as a tool that would automatically scan and remove explicit content from private messages. However, the lawsuit claims that direct messages between “friends” were not scanned at all by default, and even with safety filters enabled, children were still exposed to harmful content such as child sexual abuse material and videos depicting violence.
The New Jersey Attorney General is seeking unspecified civil penalties against Discord in connection with the lawsuit.
This legal action adds to a growing list of lawsuits filed by state attorneys general against social media companies. In recent years, other companies like Meta, Snap, and TikTok have faced similar legal challenges for allegedly failing to protect children on their platforms, with some lawsuits accusing these companies of promoting addictive features or enabling harmful behavior online.
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