Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced he is investigating Discord after a report surfaced alleging that the man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk used the messaging platform to communicate with friends about the murder.
I'm standing shoulder to shoulder with the Trump Administration to root out and defeat nihilistic violent extremism in all its forms," Paxton said on Thursday in a new release. "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."
Just days after Kirk's assassination, The Washington Postsaid 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, who was charged in connection to Kirk's death, appeared to confess to the murder via the app.
The Washington Post previously said a member of a roughly 30-person Discord chat shared screenshots of Robinson's messages with the media outlet.
Hey guys, I have bad news for you all," according to a message from an account that belonged to Robinson. "It was me at UVU yesterday. im sorry for all of this."
im surrendering through a sheriff friend in a few moments," the message continued. "thanks for all the good times and laughs, you've all been so amazing, thank you all for everything."
The media outlet said the messages were sent just hours before Robinson surrendered to authorities on September 12, marking 33 hours after Kirk was killed.
Now, Paxton said he expanded his Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act investigation into Discord. He previously launched an investigation into the platform about its privacy and safety practices for minors.
As part of a new phase of the investigation, Paxton said he issued an expanded Civil Investigative Demand to Discord focused on extremist content, sexual exploitation of minors by grooming gangs, the rise of shooters carrying out acts of nihilistic extremist violence, and the addictiveness of the platform for minors.
Prosecutors charged Robinson with capital murder and announced they will seek the death penalty.