Apex police keeping close eye on Discord after men caught with child porn images
Authorities nationwide and in the Triangle are finding Discord is being used for illegal activity, notably the exchange of child pornography.
Posted — UpdatedBut do parents know who's on the other end, and what they could be capable of?
The question warrants a closer look at Discord, a social media app becoming more familiar to Apex police and leading to recent arrests.
For parents, chances are you've walked into your child's room, and seen them wearing headphones while zeroed into a TV screen while gaming and chatting with other gamers.
Have you ever wondered who they're talking to?
What authorities nationwide and in the Triangle are finding Discord is being used for illegal activity, notably the exchange of child pornography.
"A predator can pose as anybody," Apex Police Chief Jason Armstrong said.
"They are looking for victims and trying to entice young people to send them explicit photos," said Armstrong.
"In this case we got there, things we were looking for in the search warrant we found info and evidence," said Armstrong.
Armstrong said the men were receiving images of child porn with children as young as 18 months engaged in sex acts.
WRAL News reached out to Discord and are waiting to hear back. The company has taken steps to address child abuse on its platform. It disabled more than 37,000 accounts for safety violations in 2023.
The U.S. Department of Justice has several guidelines for parents to help ensure their children's safety online:
- Discuss internet safety and develop an online safety plan with children before they engage in online activity. Establish clear guidelines, teach children to spot red flags, and encourage children to have open communication with you.
- Supervise young children’s use of the internet, including periodically checking their profiles and posts. Keep electronic devices in open, common areas of the home and consider setting time limits for their use.
- Adjust privacy settings and use parental controls for online games, apps, social medial sites, and electronic devices.
- Tell children to avoid sharing personal information, photos, and videos online in public forums or with people they do not know in real life. Explain to your children that images posted online will be permanently on the internet.
- Encourage children to tell a parent, guardian, or other trusted adult if anyone asks them to engage in sexual activity or other inappropriate behavior.
- Immediately report suspected online enticement or sexual exploitation of a child by calling 911.
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