Right-wing influencers and politicians have claimed young people are radicalized on Discord.
Right-wing influencers and politicians have claimed young people are radicalized on Discord.
Discord denies that the suspect accused of killing Charlie Kirk used the messaging platform to discuss his crime, following the service getting mentioned by law enforcement in a press conference — and after accusations that it helped radicalize the alleged shooter, Tyler Robinson. In a statement to The Verge, Jud Hoffman, Discord’s vice president of trust and safety, said the company has “found no evidence that the suspect planned this incident or promoted violence on Discord.”
During a press briefing on Friday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said investigators spoke with Robinson’s roommate, and that the roommate “stated that his roommate, referring to Robinson, made a joke on Discord.” Investigators then asked to see the Discord messages and proceeded “to take photos of the screen as each message was shown,” Cox said. Cox added that the photos “consisted of various messages, including content of messages between the phone contact named Tyler with an emoji icon.” Some of the messages captured by authorities contained references to “having left the rifle wrapped in a towel” and “engraving bullets,” according to Cox.
While Cox’s statement makes it sound like the roommate reported Robinson had, using Discord, made a joke, Discord’s spokesperson says it actually means the roommate had been chatting on Discord with a third party and discussed Robinson making comments somewhere else.
“The messages referenced in recent reporting about planning details do not appear to be Discord messages,” Hoffman said. “These were communications between the suspect’s roommate and a friend after the shooting, where the roommate was recounting the contents of a note the suspect had left elsewhere.”
It’s a fine distinction, but one that helps Discord downplay any involvement in the killing. The popular platform has been used by multiple mass shooters in past years to discuss violent and hateful rhetoric, and in one case to offer details about the attack itself. That’s earned it scrutiny from figures including New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office probed whether it and streaming service Twitch contributed to violence.
Since Kirk’s shooting, Discord has also become a target of right-wing influencers like Andy Ngo, who claim some “young high-profile shooters” are “radicalized and groomed” on the platform. Conservative influencer Laura Loomer similarly linked the suspect’s alleged use of Discord to the man who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump, saying it’s “the same platform the Butler assassin was communicating with people in.” On Friday, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) urged the FBI to look into “radicalization networks,” claiming that online platforms like Discord “are being exploited by extremists for recruitment and radicalization.”
Hoffman told The Verge that Discord has since removed Robinson’s account for violating its off-platform behavior policy. “We strongly condemn violence of any kind, including political violence, and we will continue to coordinate closely with law enforcement,” Hoffman said.
