NORFOLK, Va. — A Northern Virginia mom is calling for more protections for children online, including the social media platform Discord, after her daughter used the site.
Discord lets people chat online in conversations of interest to the users, but the mom, Leslie, says her daughter was part of chats that were disturbing.
"My daughter was encouraged to cut herself and to take pictures. She was told it was beautiful," said Leslie, who asked WTKR to protect her identity and only use her first name.
Leslie says her daughter was sent violent pornography on Discord and was in groups where she was told to take her own life.
Eventually, things got so bad that she attempted suicide, but survived. It was her second attempt.
"She was very angry with us. She thought that we were her enemies and these online chat groups were her friends and it was like she was brainwashed," said Leslie.
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Her daughter was particularly vulnerable because they're a military family, said Leslie.
"It takes them a while to find friends, so they're susceptible to online predatory groups," said Leslie.
This story and others like it have now gotten the attention of Sen. Mark Warner (D-Virginia).
This week, he sent a letter to the CEO of Discord, urging them to devote more resources to prevent children from being targeted online.
Last year, the FBI issued an alert saying groups online were deliberately targeting minors to extort them into recording or live-streaming them hurting themselves.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Discord said, in part, "These groups and actions are horrendous. They have no place on Discord, or in society as a whole. Discord was the first platform to proactively detect and report one of these groups to law enforcement, and we haven’t stopped fighting them, and groups like them, since."
They also directed us to the resources they have on their website to try and protect teens and children, including sensitive content filters that can blur messages.
Leslie says her daughter is doing better now and is in college.
She hopes Congress will take further action and pass the Kids Online Safety Act, which would enact requirements to protect children online.
"These digital platforms need to be regulated. They need to be liable for what's on their platforms and that children should be protected," she said.
