WASHINGTON, DC (November 6, 2025) – The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) said Discord’s new parental controls do not go far enough to protect children from predators and puts all the burden of protection on parents.
“Once again, a tech platform with a history of harming children rolls out parental controls that puts disproportionate burden on parents, and leaves countless children without the privilege of involved, tech-savvy parents at risk. Instead, Discord should enable safety measures by default, not piecemeal, and not in a way that burdens parents,” said Haley McNamara, Executive Director and Chief Strategy Officer, National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
“For example, Discord will give parents/guardians a way to see the top five users a teen called and messaged – only for the past week. What if a parent forgets to check their child’s activity for the week? And why will children have to opt-in for Discord to send their parents an alert when they report objectionable content? Discord should make this happen automatically.
“And so far, Discord does not use comprehensive, stringent age verification in the U.S., which means that nothing prevents predators from lying about their age to gain access to children.
“Discord, which has been on the National Center on Sexual Exploitation’s Dirty Dozen List, continues to prove they aren’t taking child safety seriously. Discord is already facing lawsuits for failing to protect children from predators.
“Discord’s abysmal track record of child protection is one more example of why Congress needs to pass the Kids Online Safety Act, which creates a critical legal duty for platforms to design products that protect minors,” McNamara said.
About National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE)
Founded in 1962, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) is the leading national non-profit organization exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation such as child sexual abuse, prostitution, sex trafficking and the public health harms of pornography.
To schedule an interview with NCOSE, please contact press@ncose.com.
