Discord is getting sued over child safety violations

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The state of New Jersey has filed a lawsuit against Discord, accusing it of failing to protect children from harmful content and dangerous individuals. 

The lawsuit claims that Discord has engaged in unfair and misleading business practices by not doing enough to safeguard young users from predators, violence, and inappropriate content.

One of the key concerns in the lawsuit is how easily children can access Discord. Although the app says users must be at least 13 years old, it does not actually verify a user’s age. 

Instead, new users are only asked to type in their birthdate, which means even very young children can simply lie about their age to create an account.

The lawsuit also criticizes Discord’s message filtering system. While there are tools to block messages from unknown people, messages from friends are not automatically filtered. 

Since users can receive friend requests from anyone, children may end up receiving disturbing or inappropriate messages, even with basic safety settings in place.

This is not the first time Discord has faced criticism for its child safety policies. However, this lawsuit is the first time a US state has taken legal action against the platform.

It is part of a growing trend where governments are pressuring popular online platforms, especially those with younger audiences, to do more to prevent exploitation and exposure to harmful content.

Discord has made some efforts recently to improve safety. In countries like the UK and Australia, it is testing a system that uses facial recognition or ID checks to verify users before allowing them to access sensitive content. 

Still, New Jersey officials argue that the company’s current safety measures in the US are far too weak.

Discord responded to the lawsuit, in an email to The Verge, by saying they were surprised by New Jersey’s action, especially since they’ve been in touch with the Attorney General’s office. 

The company insists it takes safety seriously and plans to fight the lawsuit in court.

Do you think Discord does enough to protect kids on the platform? Do you think it should be regulated? Tell us your thoughts below in the comments, or via our Twitter or Facebook.