Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Wednesday that his office expanded its ongoing probe of the online chat platform Discord after it was reportedly used by the alleged assassin who murdered conservative commentator and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
Paxton said the expansion falls under his Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act authority and will focus on whether Discord’s operations have exposed minors to extremist material, sexual exploitation, or addictive content.
“I’m standing shoulder to shoulder with the Trump Administration to root out and defeat nihilistic violent extremism in all its forms,” Paxton said in a statement. “Discord has chosen to allow extremist content, sexual exploitation, and addiction to flourish on its platform. It has a legal obligation to prevent minors from being exposed to these evils, but instead its actions have contributed to the growing wave of nihilistic violence all across our nation.”
According to the Attorney General’s Office, the new action expands a Civil Investigative Demand previously issued to Discord as part of a broader inquiry into online platforms’ privacy and safety practices for minors. Investigators will review Discord’s moderation systems, internal communications, and content policies to determine whether the platform enabled exposure to extremist or sexually exploitative material and whether its design fosters dependency among young users.
Paxton first launched an investigation into Discord in December 2024, alongside similar actions against Reddit, Instagram, and Character.AI, to examine whether large tech companies comply with Texas laws governing data privacy and child-safety protections
Discord, founded in 2015 and used widely by gamers and youth communities, has faced multiple controversies over its content-moderation practices. In recent years, federal investigators have linked the platform to incidents involving the spread of violent or extremist content, including the 2022 Buffalo supermarket shooter who reportedly shared attack plans on a private Discord channel.
The Attorney General’s Office said its current review will “examine the content on Discord’s platform and its role in contributing to the radicalization, sexual exploitation, and addiction of minors.” Officials did not specify how long the inquiry would take or whether enforcement action is expected.
Discord has not yet issued a public response to the Texas investigation. The company’s most recent transparency report states that it bans accounts engaged in grooming, non-consensual imagery, or threats of violence, and says it cooperates with law enforcement when required.
Paxton, who has served as attorney general since 2015, has led a series of high-profile legal actions targeting major technology firms, including lawsuits against Google, Meta, and TikTok. He was impeached by the Texas House in 2023 on unrelated corruption allegations but was later acquitted by the state Senate.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office did not provide additional details about the alleged shooter in the Kirk case or the nature of their reported use of Discord. The investigation is ongoing.
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Christina Botteri is the Executive Editor of The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow her on X at @christinakb.
Photo “Texas AG Ken Paxton” by Texas AG Ken Paxton.
