Discord, a social media site initially set up for gamers, has been found to be a hub for child sexual exploitation including grooming and sextortion, according to NBC News.
In certain chat rooms, adults have been grooming children, trading pornographic images of children and coercing children into sending sexually explicit images of themselves that can then be used against them, NBC News reported. The outlet found 165 cases where adults were prosecuted for using Discord to trade sexually explicit images of children or to allegedly extort children into sending explicit images of themselves, and 35 cases, 15 of which the defendants pleaded guilty, where the platform was used to kidnap, groom or sexually assault children.
But it has also provided a gateway for child predators to reach minors.
“What we see is only the tip of the iceberg,” a tip line director says. https://t.co/vD0RrtxL43
Discord started in 2015 and has since grown to 150 million users, according to NBC News.
“There is a child exploitation issue on the platform. That’s undeniable,” John Shehan, senior vice president of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), said, according to NBC News. Shehan says his organization has seen “explosive growth” of sexual exploitation of children on Discord.
Reports of child sexual exploitation grew 474% from 2021 to 2022 on Discord, according to the NCMEC. Exploitation is rampant on the media site because of the young user base and decentralized method of operations, NBC News reported.
In some of the groups on Discord, they explicitly cater to young people; one is titled “little girls ages 12-17 only” with the number “18” in a circle with a slash through it as to indicate no one of legal age is allowed in, according to NBC News. Channels within that group included “begging-to-have-sex-chat” and “nude-videos.”
In another group, minors had to send nudes for access, according to NBC News.
“YOU NEED TO SEND A VERIFICATION PHOTO TO THE OWNER! IT HAS TO BE NUDE,” wrote one user in the group.
Shehan said that Discord has been difficult to work with regarding limiting the amount of underage nudity on the site, claiming that they rescinded an invitation to a roundtable on safety. Additionally, when a Canadian task force identified a group of 120 people that were actively sharing child exploitative material, Discord said it would cost an unspecified amount of money to save the records.
Discord did not immediately respond to Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
* Article From: The Daily Caller