4d ago

New Jersey Sues Messaging App “Discord” for Unlawful Practices That Expose Kids to Child Predators and Violent, Sexual Content

www.njoag.gov

AG Platkin Sues Messaging App “Discord” for Unlawful Practices That Expose NJ Kids to Child Predators and Violent, Sexual Content - New Jersey Office of Attorney General

Discord knew its safety features and policies could not and did not protect its youthful user base, but refused to do better, the complaint alleges. In particular, Discord misled parents and kids about its safety settings for direct messages (“DMs”).

Technology @lemmy.zip

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4d ago

New Jersey Sues Messaging App “Discord” for Unlawful Practices That Expose Kids to Child Predators and Violent, Sexual Content

www.njoag.gov /ag-platkin-sues-messaging-app-discord-for-unlawful-practices-that-expose-nj-kids-to-child-predators-and-violent-sexual-content/

28 comments

Everybody is so quick to blame the parents in these situations. Maybe there is some truth to that, but people also need to reckon with the fact that kids (and adults) are being constantly inundated by Skinner box apps, and "platforms" full of engagement bait designed to be addictive and attractive as possible. All run by corporations with functionally no regard for the safety of their users.
Yeah, sure, if you're giving advice to an individual parent, they should probably be keeping a closer eye on what their kids are doing.
But there are systemic problems here that can't be fixed with individual action. By laying the blame solely at the feet of the parents here, you are in effect putting parents up against dozens of huge corporations, each with armies of expert advertisers, designers, and psychologists working to build these products. It's hardly a fair fight.

Again with the clueless parents. Stop letting your children use chat apps unsupervised.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.discord
The rating here is Teen, and it tells you all over the page that you will be interacting with other users.
To my fellow millennial parents; remember the rules of the internet when you were young, every one still applies today. It didnt change just because a whole load of tech illiterates decided putting all their info on Facebook was a good idea.
Discord's job is to provide reliable services, your job is to protect your kids. You think my kids can even download discord? Fuck no. Enjoy tux paint, little one.
- Honestly, any parent claiming their child was harmed by an online service should be brought up on charges of neglect
  
  They want everyone to parent their kids except themselves.
- It's always "think of the children" to these miserable control freaks. They'd force kids into a dungeon if they had their say in it.
  
  Its because they can't be bothered to actually rear children. An iPad is not a replacement for you singing your child to sleep, or teaching them their ABCs, or reading to them. An tablet is a short attention grabber while you are sitting in a doctor's lobby or driving somewhere. Restrict that usage to 4 hours a day at absolute max, raise it as they age. But they also won't become tech literate using one of these. It obfuscates too much. So its really just sad all around.
- Hell yeah I used to love tux paint as a kid

There is no policy which discord could enact that could protect children because they're not in the room with the child. What they want discord and other websites to do is impossible and not their job
- Their policy allows minors to use the app; maybe it shouldn't?
  
  No policy in the world will stop minors from using the app. I can't tell you how many "I am 18+" dialogues I clicked on when I was younger. You want access restrictions.
  Do you want to scan your id every time you open the discord app?

They're trying to force facial ID verification for the USA next
They probably saw the news stories about them doing this in other countries and it made them fucking wet thinking about this happening in the US
- I heard you can bypass it, but won’t be allowed to see NSFW?

Are they going to sue churches as well?
- Don’t be silly, they just don’t want competition.

For fuck's sake.

looks like Discord is just going to continue to get worse.

28 comments