佛罗里达州起诉Discord:总检察长称平台误导家长、令儿童暴露于性掠夺者

Tampa——佛罗里达州总检察长詹姆斯·乌斯迈尔(James Uthmeier)10月15日宣布,已在格莱兹县巡回法院对通讯平台Discord提起民事诉讼,指控该公司在平台安全性上误导家长、未能保护儿童免受性掠夺者侵害。诉讼指控Discord违反《佛罗里达州欺骗与不公平贸易行为法》与该州《线上空间儿童保护法》(州法§501.1735),并提出疏忽、疏忽性不实陈述与公共妨害等主张;相关指控尚未经法庭审理认定。
总检察长办公室在发布中称,自乌斯迈尔上任以来,佛州已逮捕2,100多名儿童掠夺者,「一次又一次,他们通向我们孩子的线索都回到Discord」。发布称,Discord对家长表示安全是其一切工作的核心,「那是假的」。乌斯迈尔表示,本案索赔总额可能达数亿美元。
诉状请求法院:永久禁止Discord从事诉状所指的欺骗与不公平行为,包括在没有真实年龄核验的情况下运营、未经家长同意收集儿童数据;就故意违反《欺骗与不公平贸易行为法》的行为处以每项最高1万美元民事罚款;就违反儿童线上保护法的行为处以每项最高5万美元罚款,若Discord明知佛州儿童未满18岁则每项最高15万美元;并要求Discord交出经由相关行为从佛州消费者处取得的金钱与财产、向消费者退赔,另付公共妨害的损害赔偿与消除费用及律师费。
此案源于总检察长办公室今年3月启动的调查与发出的传票,要求Discord交出涉及其儿童安全营销材料,以及显示公司知悉成年人冒充儿童使用该应用的证据。Discord于9月22日宣布新的青少年安全设置,9月还首次推出年龄核验系统。乌斯迈尔称这些改变「太少、太迟」:多年来Discord的默认设置允许陌生人向儿童发送好友请求与消息,且平台至今不扫描全部私聊内容是否违规。
据《塔拉哈西民主党人报》报道,Discord起源于游戏社交网络,据其官网数据,2025年月活跃用户超过2亿、日活跃用户9,000万;Discord在其网站上表示对儿童性虐待材料与诱骗未成年人行为持「零容忍」政策。截至周四下午,Discord尚未就本案公开发表回应。据彭博法律新闻报道,佛州是最新一个起诉Discord的州,德克萨斯州、新泽西州、印第安纳州、内华达州与阿肯色州的总检察长此前已就类似指控起诉该公司。
Florida Sues Discord, Alleging the Platform Misled Parents and Exposed Children to Predators
Tampa — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced on October 15 that the state has filed a civil lawsuit against the communications platform Discord in Glades County circuit court, accusing the company of misleading parents about its safety and failing to protect children from sexual predators. The complaint alleges violations of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and the state's law protecting children in online spaces (§ 501.1735), along with claims of negligence, negligent misrepresentation and public nuisance. The allegations have not been proven in court.
In its release, the attorney general's office said Florida has arrested more than 2,100 child predators since Uthmeier took office, and that "again and again, their trail to our kids leads back to Discord." Discord told parents that safety is at the core of everything it does; "that was false," the release said. Uthmeier said the state's claims could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars.
The state asks the court to permanently bar Discord from the practices alleged, including operating without real age verification and collecting children's data without parental consent; to impose civil penalties of up to $10,000 per willful violation of the deceptive trade practices act; up to $50,000 per violation of the children's online protection law, or up to $150,000 per violation where Discord had actual knowledge that a Florida child was under 18; and to order disgorgement and restitution, damages and abatement costs for the public nuisance, and attorney's fees.
The suit follows an investigation the attorney general's office opened in March, when it subpoenaed Discord for marketing materials discussing the platform's safety for children and any evidence the company knew adults were posing as children on the app. Discord announced new teen safety settings on September 22 and rolled out age verification for the first time in September. Uthmeier said the changes came "too little, too late": for years the platform's default settings let strangers send children friend requests and messages, and Discord still does not scan all private chats for rule-breaking.
Discord began as a social gaming network and, according to its website as cited by the Tallahassee Democrat, had more than 200 million monthly users and 90 million daily active users as of 2025. Discord says on its website that it has a "zero tolerance" policy toward child sexual abuse material and grooming. As of Thursday afternoon, the company had not publicly responded to the lawsuit. Bloomberg Law reported that Florida is the latest state to sue Discord; the attorneys general of Texas, New Jersey, Indiana, Nevada and Arkansas have previously sued the company over similar allegations.
发布:GSM·美国(发布链接)
图片来源:图:佛罗里达州议会大厦(塔拉哈西,前景为旧议会大楼、后方为新议会大楼)。图片来源:F McGady,Wikimedia Commons,CC BY 4.0。Photo: Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee (old capitol in front, new capitol behind). Image: F McGady, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
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