Discord—NBC investigation reveals extensive child exploitation activity on Discord platform
An NBC News investigation in June 2023 found that at least 35 child abduction, grooming, or exploitation prosecutions and 165 CSAM prosecutions involved Discord communications. Hundreds of active servers promoting child exploitation were identified. The FBI subsequently warned in September 2023 that violent online groups were deliberately targeting minors aged 8-17 on messaging platforms including Discord to extort them into producing CSAM, with LGBTQ+ youth and racial minorities particularly targeted.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Content Moderation | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Digital Safety for Vulnerable Users | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.497 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.66)× agency (negligent ×0.5)
Evidence (2 signals)
FBI warns violent online groups targeting minors on Discord for extortion and CSAM
The FBI's IC3 issued a warning that violent online groups were deliberately targeting minors aged 8-17 on messaging platforms including Discord to extort them into self-harm and producing CSAM, with LGBTQ+ youth and racial minorities specifically targeted. Senator Warner later raised concerns that Discord's Trust & Safety team struggled to remove these groups despite knowing of their existence.
NBC News investigation identifies hundreds of active child exploitation servers on Discord
NBC News found at least 35 child abduction, grooming, or exploitation prosecutions and 165 CSAM prosecutions involved Discord communications. Hundreds of active servers promoting child exploitation were identified on the platform.