Attorney General Ken Paxton claims the social media platform has design features that facilitate the exploitation of children.
MCKINNEY, Texas (CN) – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Discord on Friday, alleging that the popular social media platform allows for the rampant exploitation of children.
In one complaint filed in Collin County District Court, Paxton alleges that despite marketing itself as secure, Discord has design features that enable extortion, including private servers, reliance on unpaid volunteers for server moderation, and security features that require users to opt-in.
“Discord presents itself to the world as a platform built on community, connection and safety,” Paxton writes in the complaint. “It’s not. Behind safety pages and transparency pages, Discord built and maintains one of the most efficient online hunting grounds for child manipulation, grooming and predatory behavior.”
As a result of these failures, Paxton argues, Discord has become a haven for predators. He quotes one ANALYSIS by the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit that identified hundreds of criminal cases involving Discord users over the past decade, nearly half related to child exploitation.
Paxton points to several examples in the complaint, including lawsuits alleging that a 13-year-old Texas girl was sexually assaulted after being groomed on Discord and that a 15-year-old boy with autism died by suicide after being forced to send sexually explicit photos. The complaint also says the network of violent extremists and child abusers known as “764” originally formed on Discord.
Paxton has previously filed similar lawsuits against platforms including TikTok, Snapchat AND Roblox on allegations that children have been exploited or exposed to explicit content.
Paxton argues that Discord violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act by falsely advertising the platform as secure. The lawsuit seeks injunctions requiring Discord to default new accounts to maximum security settings and adopt age verification measures under the Texas Safeguarding Children Online Through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act, along with civil penalties and disgorgement.
“Discord has allowed and invited all kinds of nihilistic violence and evil. My office is taking action to protect our nation’s precious children from predators,” Paxton said in a STATEMENT announcing the lawsuit. “We live in a time where the dangers children face online have never been greater, and every parent in Texas deserves to know their child is protected.”
In a statement to the Courthouse News Service, a Discord spokesperson said Paxton’s lawsuit “does not reflect the platform we’ve built or the investments we’ve made in user security.”
“Our security systems combine advanced technology and human-led investigations, along with user reports to help identify accounts or spaces involved in harmful activity, including the sharing of exploitative material and child sexual abuse,” the spokesperson said. “We provide teen users and their parents and guardians with important privacy and safety tools, including Teen Safety Assistance and our Family Center. We look forward to partnering with policymakers to work toward a safer online experience for all users on Discord and across the Internet.”
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