Discord And Twitch Are Not ‘Benign.’ They Pose Serious Risks To Your Children From Predators, Parents Group Warns

A watchdog organization on Wednesday warned parents across the country about the significant dangers of allowing kids unfiltered access to popular online platforms that could expose them to sexual predators or even foreign terrorist groups. 

The American Parents Coalition issued a “Lookout” to parents, encouraging them to be vigilant about what their children have access to. The Lookout, which is texted to parents across the country, comes ahead of a House Oversight Committee hearing where executives from platforms like Discord and Twitch have been called to testify about the “radicalization of online forum users.”

“Today’s children are growing up in a digital age where online companionship and community are replacing human interaction at children’s expense,” the Lookout said. “Parents may not be aware that seemingly benign and popular gaming platforms like Discord, Steam, Twitch, and Reddit can expose vulnerable children to radicalized views and extreme content with no guardrails.”

American Parents Coalition Executive Director Alleigh Marré told The Daily Wire that it was becoming increasingly important for parents to monitor their kids’ online activity. 

“It has been consistently flagged to parents that we need to be really mindful of our child’s online presence, where they’re spending their time, who they’re engaging with,” she said. “And we’ve continued to see the stakes of not doing that grow more and more concerning.”

The Lookout highlighted how Discord has come under scrutiny in recent weeks after it was reported that the man suspected of assassinating Charlie Kirk discussed the killing in messages on the platform. It was also revealed that the man who planned to kill Justice Brett Kavanaugh mused about whether “removing” justices from the Supreme Court would “help women.” 

Other reports have said that young people have been exposed to materials from foreign terrorist organizations while on Discord. There are also concerns about children being targeted by sexual predators via the platform or encouraged to embrace transgender ideology behind their parents’ backs. 

In a statement to The Daily Wire, Discord said that it requires all users to be at least 13 years of age to use the platform. 

“We use a combination of advanced technology and trained safety teams to proactively find and remove content that violates our policies,” a spokesman said. “We maintain strong systems to prevent the spread of sexual exploitation and grooming on our platform and also work with other technology companies and safety organizations to improve online safety across the internet.” 

The Lookout also pointed to the dangers of kids being exposed to calls for political violence, particularly against conservatives. It highlighted a Reddit thread that was later removed, where users appeared to call for violence against employees of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The thread referred to the DOGE employees as “Muskrat’s DOGE Henchmen.” 

The comments were removed by Reddit’s safety teams within one day of being posted, a Reddit spokesman noted. Over 90% of Reddit users are reportedly over the age of 18, according to external market research. 

Another platform flagged by the American Parents Coalition was Roblox, an online game platform with tens of millions of users under the age of 13. In the aftermath of the Kirk assassination, the platform removed dozens of game “experiences” after “seeing violative content around Charlie Kirk,” the company said. There have also been concerns about predators targeting children on the platform. 

Twitch, a streaming platform, was also noted as a place where children could be exposed to violent political rhetoric and sexual predators. Leftist streamer Hasan Piker was suspended by the platform after comments about killing Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott. 

A Twitch spokesman said that the site monitors its channels 24/7 for any youth-safety violations on its platform. 

“We continue to increase our investments in youth safety on Twitch, and have developed a number of product interventions that let viewers customize and build the Twitch experience that is right for them – this includes limiting the visibility of content that may not be appropriate for all audiences,” the spokesman said. 

The Lookout included a list of general practices parents should take to protect their kids online.

Marré said she thinks these tech companies should have a parental board to advise them on best practices. 

“These are very powerful technologies with extreme reach and they’re available to anyone,” she said. “There aren’t a lot of barriers to entry. And so when you have a technology like that, it’s all the more important to make sure that the people who are most vulnerable are protected, and I don’t really think anybody does that well.”