Discord gets sued for allegedly violating child safety laws
1 min read
Summary
Social messaging platform Discord has been sued by the state of New Jersey, which alleged the platform had engaged in practices that were “deceptive and unconscionable”, putting children at risk.
Discord’s age verification procedures merely involve users entering their date of birth, which means children as young as eight could access the app by entering a false birth date.
Additionally, while the platform has message filtering settings, it does not scan messages by default if they come from a user’s friends.
This combination of factors thus allows children to receive inappropriate messages, alleged the lawsuit, which is one of several legal actions focused on protecting children from harmful content on gaming platforms.
In response, a Discord spokesperson said the company was “surprised” by the lawsuit, and looked forward to “defending the action in court”.