Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a lawsuit against Discord on Thursday, marking the state’s latest legal action against online platforms in the name of child safety.
Uthmeier claims in the civil lawsuit that Discord, an online messaging platform, allegedly failed to put in place adequate child safety features and has, therefore, harmed Florida’s children and violated state laws. His office filed the state civil lawsuit in the circuit court of Glades County after announcing subpoenas to the platform several months ago.
“It began as a communications platform to support people that were engaged in video games,” Uthmeier said of Discord in a Thursday press conference. “People could play games, and they could chat with their friends on the side. But, as a social application where it’s easy to talk anonymously and 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, sexually abuse kids.”
“Over the last six months, we’ve tried to work with them, and they have made some changes, some positive changes, but not enough. People are still getting hurt,” he continued.
A Discord spokesman told the Washington Examiner that the lawsuit’s characterization of Discord “does not reflect the platform we have built or the investments we have made in user safety.”
“Users join Discord communities intentionally, based on their interests, and unlike social media, the platform has no algorithmic feed, infinite scroll, or public ‘likes’ pushing content to mass audiences,” the spokesman said. “Our safety systems combine advanced technology and human-led investigations, alongside user reports to help identify accounts or spaces engaged in harmful activity, including exploitative and child sexual abuse materials.”
“Discord recently introduced a platform-wide age-appropriate experience that provides added protections around experiences intended for adults while allowing teens to participate in communities that aren’t age-restricted,” the spokesman continued.
Uthmeier’s office has targeted several technology and social media companies with lawsuits and investigations, including Roblox, Snapchat, and Meta. In early September, the state sued Netflix for allegedly tracking the data of child users and using exploitative advertising methods. Uthmeier said in the Thursday press conference that in the Florida attorney general’s office, “our No. 1 priority is protecting children.”
“With our civil tools, we’re going to continue to hold big tech companies accountable that expose our kids to danger,” Uthmeier said.
Uthmeier also sued OpenAI in June over its alleged lack of child safety measures, several months before eight states launched coordinated individual lawsuits against the company on Thursday.
NEVADA SUES DISCORD OVER ONLINE SEXUAL PREDATOR CONCERNS
Discord has been the target of online child safety advocates for several years, particularly sitting in the spotlight in September 2025 after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, when multiple reports indicated that Kirk’s suspected assassin used the platform ahead of the killing. A Discord spokesperson at the time told the Washington Examiner that the platform had “not found or received any evidence that the suspect planned this incident on Discord or promoted violence on Discord.”
Other states, such as Nevada, Texas, and New Jersey, have also sued the platform over its alleged lack of safety measures against child predators.