Florida attorney general sues Discord, alleging platform fails to protect minors from predators
Attorney General James Uthmeier is bringing plenty of strife to Discord, the messaging and gaming platform.
On Thursday, he filed a lawsuit against the online giant, which had 90 million active daily users as of 2025, according to its website, claiming the platform doesn't do enough to protect minors from sexual predators.
"Discord was marketing itself as a safe play, all fun and games. Indeed, it became a playground for young people," Uthmeier told reporters at an event in Tampa. "Unfortunately, today it is a playground for some of the most evil, heinous offenders."
The lawsuit was filed in the 20th Judicial Circuit, which covers Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry and Lee counties.
In March, Uthmeier's office said it would investigate Discord and issued a subpoena seeking information from the company on marketing, age verification, content moderation, and parental control features.
Discord did not immediately return an email seeking comment Thursday. On its website, the company says it has a "zero tolerance" policy towards child sexual abuse material and those who attempt to sexually groom users. Discord doesn't allow children under 13 to have an account, but it also doesn't verify users' ages.
"It's easy to talk anonymously," Uthmeier said. "Adults can get in with little to no age verification checks. Adults were able to pretend to be kids, prey upon kids, and unfortunately in too many cases, physically and sexually abuse kids."
The lawsuit begins by listing eight incidents where an adult sexually exploited a minor through the Discord platform, all involving a Florida perpetrator or victim. All occurred between 2022 and 2026.
It also notes that, while Discord has announced steps in recent weeks to improve safety for minors, those steps are "insufficient."
"That late-breaking and insufficient announcement cannot undo the harm already caused in violation of Florida law; nor will it fully remedy the problem going forward," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit claims Discord violated Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act by marketing its platform as safe for minors, processing personal information of children, leading to substantial harm or privacy risks, and creating a public nuisance through its "unreasonable and unlawful conduct" that jeopardized the health and safety of children.
Furthermore, the lawsuit asks the court to order Discord to stop marketing itself as safe without real age verification processes, to stop collecting data from children without parental consent, to impose $10,000 fines per violation of the Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, and to impose $50,000 to $150,000 per every instance where Discord failed to protect children in online spaces.
"We need to send a message to Discord and all the other companies out there: Change your ways. Protect our kids," Uthmeier said. "Sure, make money and make profit, but do not choose profit over public safety. If you do that, we are going to make you pay a lot, and we are going to hold you accountable."