Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against communications app Discord, alleging that the platform allows child predators to exploit children while falsely claiming child safety to parents.
“Discord presents itself to the world as a platform built on community, connection, and safety. It is not,”the lawsuit, filed on May 22 in the District Court of Collin County, Texas, said.
“Behind the safety pages and transparency pages, Discord built and maintainsone of the internet’s most efficient hunting grounds for manipulation, grooming, and predatory behavior towards children. Discord did so knowingly, deliberately, and profitably.”
The design choices implemented on the communications platform make it easy for bad actors to locate vulnerable users, build trust quickly, and operate away from public view, the complaint said.
According to a Discord webpage, safety is at the “core of everything” the company does.
In another post, the company claims safety considerations are “fully integrated into our design process.” Discord also says that it has a “zero-tolerance policy” against individuals who engage in sexual grooming or exploitation of minors.
Such promises made to consumers, parents, and regulators were false, the lawsuit alleges.
Discord makes safety an “opt-in rather than default,” the complaint states.
“It chose to leave private servers invisible. It chose to staff its most critical safety function with unpaid volunteers. It chose to expire violations after 90 days. It chose to bury the block button. Discord chose profits and growth over the safety of children,” it states.
Source: ZeroHedge News
