State AG subpoenas popular gaming site plagued by pedophilia

Republican Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is demanding answers from a popular gaming site plagued by pedophilia.

Discord is widely considered the most popular messaging website for gamers, with over 200 million active registered users. However, nearly half of all federal court cases mentioning the site or its users since 2017 involved “child exploitation,” WBAL-TV reported in December 2025.

Uthmeier announced a civil investigation and a subpoena against Discord on Thursday, demanding an explanation regarding the platform’s “overwhelming use” by predators.

Today, we launched an investigation into the popular group chat app, Discord, due to the platform’s overwhelming use by child predators.

With so many criminal investigations leading to Discord, they owe us an explanation as to why predators keep getting to kids on the app.… pic.twitter.com/8YtfBpbdjy

— Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) March 18, 2026

“Groomers and predators seem to believe that they can get away with targeting children on Discord — and we are going to find out why,” Uthmeier said in a Wednesday statement. “Discord owes us an explanation on the overwhelming use of its platform among predators, and what they are doing to protect children.”

Sarasota County, Fla. Sheriff Kurt Hoffman told parents that law enforcement is taking the problem seriously.

“My message is clear, we are committed to protecting our kids, and predators have no safe place in our community,” the sheriff said via Uthmeier’s press release. “If you exploit children, we will find you, arrest you, and hold you accountable.”

The attorney general’s office demanded, among other documents, “records of criminal cases involving children, data on how many children are utilizing the platform, and documents relating to the marketing of Discord directly to children.”

State attorneys general have sued Discord in the past for exposing children to predators. Former Democratic New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin sued the website for “deceptive and unconscionable business practices” which he said “obscured the risks children faced when using the application.” Platkin said Discord’s conduct “exposed New Jersey children to sexual and violent content, leaving them vulnerable to online predators lurking on the Discord app.”

Discord briefly attempted to implement age verification measures in February 2026 before delaying rollouts later that month, citing in a press release the need to “expand verification options, increase vendor transparency, and publish detailed technical documentation.” The press release added, “Our commitment to teen safety remains unchanged.”

Discord did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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