Discord Lawsuit: NJ Attorney General Sues Over Alleged Child Safety Failures

New Jersey this month became the first state to file a Discord lawsuit against the popular messaging platform for allegedly failing to protect children from online dangers. Discord, with more than 200 million monthly users, many of whom are children, now faces serious allegations regarding its safety practices. The lawsuit specifically alleges that Discord’s default settings allow users to receive friend requests from anyone, thus making it easy for children to connect with strangers, including potential child predators. Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced the legal action following a multi-year investigation that uncovered alleged deceptive business practices and inadequate safety controls.

AG Platkin Files Lawsuit Alleging Discord Misled Parents

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin filed this new lawsuit against Discord on April 17, 2025, in the Superior Court of New Jersey. The legal action alleges that the popular messaging platform violated the state’s Consumer Fraud Act through deceptive practices that misled parents about safety features.

According to court documents, Discord allegedly employed “difficult to navigate and ambiguous safety settings to lull parents and children into a false sense of safety”. The lawsuit, brought by Platkin and the state’s Division of Consumer Affairs, claims Discord engaged in “unconscionable and/or abusive commercial acts or practices” when it knew children were being targeted and exploited on the platform.

Child Safety Concerns Raised in the Discord Lawsuit

The complaint specifically alleges four violations of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act. These violations center around Discord allegedly:

• Misleading parents and children about the effectiveness of safety features
• Obscuring the risks children face on the platform
• Failing to enforce its minimum age requirement
• Misrepresenting its “Safe Direct Messaging” capabilities

Moreover, the lawsuit contends that Discord’s age verification process is fundamentally flawed. The platform “only requires individuals to enter their date of birth to establish their age when creating an account—nothing more”, allowing children under 13 to easily bypass restrictions by simply lying about their age.

Perhaps most significantly, the lawsuit alleges Discord misled parents about its “Safe Direct Messaging” feature, which supposedly “was designed to automatically scan and delete all private messages containing explicit media content”. However, “by default, direct messages between ‘friends’ were not scanned at all,” the complaint states. Even when filters were enabled, “children were still exposed to child sexual abuse material, videos depicting violence or terror, and other harmful content.”

How Discord’s Platform Design Allegedly Enabled Child Exploitation

The lawsuit against Discord follows a multi-year investigation that revealed the company allegedly knew its safety features were ineffective yet refused to make improvements. Platkin stated Discord has “waged a very extensive PR campaign” about its safety features while knowing “they’re not actually protecting kids the way they say they are”.

Discord’s platform architecture allegedly contains numerous design flaws that enable predators to target children, despite the company’s public assurances about safety. The lawsuit claims that Discord’s default settings create an environment where users, including minors, can easily connect with strangers who might have harmful intentions.

Alleged Design Flaws that Put Children at Risk

Discord’s server structure, which allows users to join interest-based communities, allegedly lacks sufficient safeguards to prevent children from accessing age-inappropriate content. Many servers contain explicit material yet have minimal barriers preventing minors from joining. The lawsuit contends that Discord’s design makes it difficult for parents to monitor their children’s activities effectively.

Another alleged flaw concerns Discord’s voice and video chat features, which provide predators with opportunities for real-time communication with potential victims. These communications cannot be monitored by parents and often leave no digital record that could alert adults to dangerous interactions.

These design elements, along with others, allegedly create an environment where exploitation thrives despite Discord’s public statements emphasizing child safety.

Legal Remedies New Jersey is Seeking in the Discord Lawsuit

The Discord lawsuit filed by the state of New Jersey seeks multiple remedies to address the alleged violations of state consumer protection laws. Attorney General Platkin’s legal action outlines several specific demands aimed at holding the platform accountable for its alleged failings.

Primarily, the lawsuit seeks an injunction to stop Discord from violating New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act (CFA). This court order would force the company to modify its practices and implement more effective safety measures for children using the platform.

Furthermore, the legal action demands civil penalties against Discord, though the specific amounts remain unspecified in the complaint. These financial penalties would serve as both punishment for past violations and a deterrent against future misconduct.

In addition, New Jersey is seeking disgorgement of profits that Discord allegedly generated through its unlawful practices within state borders. This remedy would require the company to surrender revenue earned through what the state characterizes as deceptive business practices.

Future Implications of the Discord Legal Battle

The action against Discord represents part of a broader initiative by state attorneys general nationwide to hold technology companies accountable for their impact on young users. This lawsuit follows similar legal actions AG Platkin has pursued against other social media platforms for alleged unlawful practices that harm youth, including TikTok and Meta (parent company of Instagram and Facebook). Should the Discord lawsuit succeed, it could establish precedent for how messaging platforms must protect minor users and potentially influence Discord’s safety protocols nationwide, not just in New Jersey.