Court order makes Discord add temporary child protections in Texas
Discord logo displayed on a phone screen and Discord website displayed on a screen in the background are seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on November 5, 2022. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
AUSTIN, Texas - The popular online messaging platform Discord is now temporarily required to add child protection features in Texas following a court decision.
Discord restraining order
The latest:
The temporary restraining order (TRO) against Discord was secured after Texas AG Ken Paxton's office filed a lawsuit alleging "weak" safety settings and children being exposed to online predators.
The new court order, announced by the AG's office on Friday, requires Discord to mmediately reconfigure four key default settings to their most protective state for all Texas accounts:
- Blocking sensitive content rather than merely blurring it;
- Disabling friend requests from "Everyone;"
- Turning off direct-message social permissions;
- And setting spam filtering to "Filter All."
Discord is also required to change their language claiming safety, as well as suspend the automatic 90-day expiration of user violation records and preserve all enforcement and moderation data. It must also file a verified report within fourteen days disclosing its true default settings, the percentage of its workforce devoted to safety, and data on how easily banned users return.
What's next:
A hearing on the State’s request for a temporary injunction is set for June 5, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. in Collin County District Court.
What they're saying:
"Discord designed a predator’s paradise, switched off the safeguards by default, and looked Texas parents in the eye and called it safe. That is not negligence. That is evil dressed up as a safety policy," said Paxton in his Friday release. "A court ordered Discord to stop, and I will pursue this company with the full and unrelenting force of the law until every child in Texas is protected from the sick predators it invited in. Discord was warned again and again and did nothing. It will not get to ignore Texas."
Featured
Texas investigation examines Discord after Charlie Kirk shooting
Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the investigation Thursday, accusing the popular chat platform of exposing minors to extremism.
Texas vs Discord
The backstory:
Paxton's office filed the suit on Friday, May 22, following his office's investigation into the platform for "extremist" content after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
What they're saying:
"Discord has allowed and invited all kinds of nihilistic violence and evil. My office is taking action to protect our nation’s precious children from predators," said Paxton when announcing the litigation. "We live in a time where the dangers children face online have never been greater, and every parent in Texas deserves to know their child is protected."
Paxton cited cases in which teens were allegedly assaulted or traumatized as a result of using the platform.
The Source: Information in this article comes from the Texas attorney general's office.