Texas forces Discord to implement UK-style age verification and safety rules
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 - Texas announced on Friday that Discord has agreed to a temporary injunction that will require the messaging platform to implement in Texas the same age-assurance and default safety features that it already provides for users in the United Kingdom.
This is a result of the state's consumer protection lawsuit that continues.
Texas court order and compliance
The Texas Supreme Court on Jan. 15, 2020 Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune
What we know:
The injunction was signed by a Collin County judge and requires Discord to implement protections for Texas users within 90 days, as well as submit confidential progress reports to the state every 30 days until it has complied.
The order remains in effect until the case is resolved or if a court order says otherwise. It states that Discord does not admit any allegations, liability or wrongdoing by agreeing to the injunction and requires Discord to extend the specific age-assurance and default safety features described in the published program for UK users, to Texas users.
It also specifies that Discord is not required to collect new categories of personal information to identify Texas users and may ask the court for additional time if it demonstrates that compliance within 90 days is not feasible.
Discord’s safety rules in Texas compared to the UK
(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Big picture view:
Discord has about 200 million monthly active users worldwide.
Unlike the emergency temporary restraining order that was issued in May, the agreed injunction resolves Texas' request for temporary injunctive relief.
The agreed injunction includes several facts both parties either agreed to or that Discord did not dispute for purposes of the order. Those listed in the injunction include that Discord currently relies on self-reported birthdates during account creation in Texas and that they have already deployed an age-assurance system in certain jurisdictions outside Texas, including the United Kingdom.
Texas is not the first state to sue Discord. New Jersey filed a lawsuit 15 months ago, and Nevada, Indiana and Arkansas have also taken legal action.
Court order makes Discord add temporary child protections in Texas
The popular online messaging platform Discord is now temporarily required to add child protection features in Texas following a court decision.
New safety features and state response
Close up of young woman holding a smartphone. (Photo: Elizabeth Fernandez / Contributor via Getty Images)
What they're saying:
Attorney General Ken Paxton said the agreement requires Discord to provide Texas children with protections the company already uses in the United Kingdom.
"Discord built a platform where adult predators could hunt Texas children, then looked parents in the eye and told them it was safe," Paxton said in a statement. "It wasn't."
The attorney general also said Discord submitted nearly 490,000 reports of suspected child sexual exploitation to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in 2025.
According to the attorney general's office, the protections include routing messages from strangers into a separate request inbox, blocking sensitive content for teenagers unless they are confirmed to be adults and restricting access to adult-only spaces for users whose ages have not been verified.
Ken Paxton
What's next:
Texas sued Discord in May under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The case is now scheduled to proceed to a trial on the merits in 2027, according to the agreed injunction.
The Source: Information in this article was provided by the Texas Attorney General's Office.