Discord lawsuit overview:
- Who: Discord Inc. agreed to implement enhanced age assurance and default safety features for Texas users in a temporary injunction with the Texas Attorney General.
- Why: Texas alleges Discord misrepresented the safety of its platform while failing to adequately protect children from online predators and sexual exploitation.
- Where: The agreement was entered in Texas state court.
- How to get help: If you or your child encountered an online predator on Discord and experienced grooming, child exploitation or abuse, you may be eligible to pursue legal action.
Discord has agreed to adopt enhanced age assurance and default safety protections for Texas users while it continues to fight a lawsuit accusing the messaging platform of putting children at risk.
The agreed temporary injunction resolves Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request for preliminary relief without deciding whether Discord violated the law or admitting any wrongdoing.
According to the order, Discord must, within 90 days, extend to Texas users the same age assurance and default safety features it currently provides to users in the United Kingdom. The agreement states that Discord does not admit any allegation, liability or wrongdoing by entering into the injunction.
Paxton sued Discord in May, alleging the company enabled child sexual exploitation and misled parents and the public about the safety of its platform.
“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, as reported by Law360.
According to the attorney general’s office, four Texas parents testified during a two-day evidentiary hearing about abuse their children allegedly suffered after being contacted by predators through Discord.
The attorney general also said one child was victimized by Charles Maitski, who is serving a federal life sentence for crimes involving children.
Texas users to receive additional safety protections
Under the agreed order, Discord must implement for Texas users the same protections described on its United Kingdom “Age Assurance for UK Users” webpage.
According to the attorney general’s office, those protections include routing direct messages from strangers into a separate message request inbox, blocking sensitive content for teen users unless the platform confirms the user is an adult, and restricting access to adult-only spaces for users whose age has not been verified.
The order defines a Texas user as an account Discord identifies through commercially reasonable IP-based geolocation methods. It also requires the company to provide written implementation reports to the Texas attorney general every 30 days until it fully complies with the injunction.
The agreed order states Discord may adopt alternative commercially reasonable age verification methods and does not require the company to permanently maintain identical features if its UK experience changes in the future.
In a statement, Discord said it is focused on improving safety for teenagers while protecting user privacy.
The company said it expects about 90% of users will not need to complete any age assurance process because its system uses existing account signals, including account history and activity patterns, to estimate most users’ ages automatically. Discord also noted that users must be at least 13 years old to create an account.
The underlying lawsuit remains pending, and the agreed temporary injunction does not resolve Texas’ claims on the merits.
Meanwhile, Discord disclosed a 2025 data breach affecting a limited number of users who communicated with its Customer Support or Trust & Safety teams. The company said approximately 70,000 users may have had images of their government-issued IDs exposed.
What do you think about Discord adopting enhanced safety protections for Texas users? Let us know in the comments.
The state is represented by Ken Paxton, Brent Webster, Ralph Molina, Austin Kinghorn, Jerry Bergman, Johnathan Stone, Lauren McGee, John C. Hernandez and Hina Halepota of the Texas Office of the Attorney General.
The Discord lawsuit is State of Texas v. Discord Inc., Case No. 199-03546-2026, in the 199th District Court of Collin County, Texas.
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