New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Division of Consumer Affairs announced today a lawsuit against messaging application provider Discord, Inc. (“Discord”), accusing the company of deceptive and unconscionable business practices that misled parents about the effectiveness of its safety controls and concealed the dangers children face while using the platform.
A multiyear investigation by the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General and the Division of Consumer Affairs revealed that Discord’s actions violated New Jersey’s consumer protection laws and exposed children in the state to sexual and violent content, making them vulnerable to online predators on the app.
The complaint, filed under seal in part in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Essex County, alleges multiple violations of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act (“CFA”).
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According to the complaint, Discord was aware that its safety features and policies were inadequate to protect its young user base but failed to take sufficient action. The lawsuit specifically targets Discord’s misleading claims regarding the safety settings for direct messages (“DMs”).
“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,” stated Attorney General Platkin. “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, headquartered in San Francisco, operates a popular application used for text, audio, and video communication. Since its launch in 2015, the app has gained immense popularity, particularly among children who constitute a significant portion of its user base.
The investigation detailed in the complaint alleges that Discord has consistently represented its app as safe, citing its policies against underage use and the distribution of explicit material, including child sexual abuse content. A key element of this representation was the “Safe Direct Messaging” feature and its subsequent iterations, which Discord claimed would automatically scan and delete private direct messages containing explicit media. However, the complaint asserts that these promises were and continue to be false.
The lawsuit highlights numerous news reports and prosecutor’s office statements indicating that despite Discord’s safety assurances, predators frequently use the app to stalk, contact, and victimize children. These sources point to alarming cases where adults have been charged and convicted for using Discord to connect with children, often posing as minors themselves, and transmitting or soliciting explicit images, including through sextortion. Many of these cases involved children under the age of 13, despite Discord’s stated policy prohibiting users under that age.
“Discord claims that safety is at the core of everything it does, but the truth is, the application is not safe for children. Discord’s deliberate misrepresentation of the application’s safety settings has harmed—and continues to harm—New Jersey’s children, and must stop,” said Cari Fais, Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. “By filing this lawsuit, we’re sending a clear message that New Jersey will not allow businesses to grow their customer base through unlawful and deceptive practices, especially when those practices put children at grave risk.”
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The complaint outlines several key allegations against Discord:
- Platform Design Encourages Unchecked Engagement: Discord’s design, with features like custom emojis, stickers, soundboard effects, and the creation of “student hubs” and gaming communities, is designed to appeal to children and encourage extensive interaction.
- Default Settings Facilitate Contact with Strangers: Discord’s default settings allow users to receive friend requests and direct messages from anyone on the app or within the same server, making it easy for children to connect with numerous users, including potential predators. The default setting for message scanning between “friends” is often disabled, leaving children vulnerable to explicit content.
- Misleading “Safe Direct Messaging” Feature: For years, Discord offered a “Safe Direct Messaging” feature with options like “My friends are nice” as the default, which only scanned messages from non-friends. Discord falsely claimed this feature would automatically scan and delete explicit content, despite knowing it was ineffective.
- Design Choices Exacerbate Risks: The ability for users to exchange DMs within shared servers, the ease with which strangers can become “friends” and exchange unscanned messages, and the lack of robust age verification all contribute to the dangers children face on the app.
- Inadequate Age Verification: Despite claiming to prohibit users under 13, Discord only requires users to enter their birthdate without any further verification, allowing underage children and predators to easily create accounts.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction to prevent Discord from violating the CFA, along with civil penalties and the disgorgement of any profits earned in New Jersey through these alleged unlawful practices.
This action against Discord follows previous lawsuits filed by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office against other social media giants like TikTok and Meta (owner of Instagram and Facebook) for similar conduct related to child safety and engagement. These earlier lawsuits stemmed from a national investigation co-led by New Jersey. The Attorney General’s Office also highlighted the numerous prosecutions by the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice involving the use of social media platforms, including Discord, to prey on and exploit children.
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