New Jersey Files Lawsuit Against Discord Over Alleged Misrepresentation of Safety Measures

In a first-of-its-kind legal move, the state of New Jersey has filed a lawsuit against the popular online messaging platform Discord, accusing the company of misleading users—particularly parents—about the safety of its platform, CBS News reports.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced the legal action on Thursday, claiming that Discord has failed to live up to its public promises regarding child safety and content moderation. The lawsuit alleges that the platform’s security features are insufficient and that the company has misrepresented their effectiveness, potentially putting young users at risk of exposure to harmful content, including sexual exploitation and violent extremism.

“Discord has been at the center of numerous criminal cases involving predators who used the app for sexual grooming, extortion, and exploitation,” Platkin said during a press briefing.

He also cited instances where the platform was used to organize or promote violent acts, including the 2017 rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the 2022 mass shooting in Buffalo, New York.

The complaint claims Discord violated New Jersey’s consumer protection laws by failing to enforce its own minimum age requirement of 13 and by advertising safety features that were allegedly ineffective in practice.

According to Platkin, “acts of violence that Discord enables and the harms that children suffer on their app stem in part from porous security features that Discord knows do not work as promised.”

Discord, widely used by gamers and online communities, allows users to communicate in group-based chat rooms known as “servers” or through private messaging. With more than 200 million users globally, the platform has come under increasing scrutiny over how it manages content and user interactions.

In response to the lawsuit, Discord issued a statement to CBS News, saying:

“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.”