Attorney General
Here's a look at documents from state attorneys general
Featured Stories
Statement by Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin on SCOTUS Decision to Grant Oral Argument on Birthright Citizenship
TRENTON, New Jersey, April 17 -- New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin issued the following news release:
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Statement by Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin on SCOTUS Decision to Grant Oral Argument on Birthright Citizenship
For Immediate Release: April 17, 2025
Office of the Attorney General
- Matthew J. Platkin, Attorney General
TRENTON -- After the Supreme Court of the United States granted oral arguments on the Trump Administration's attempt to unconstitutionally terminate birthright citizenship, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, who is co-leading a multi-state
... Show Full Article
TRENTON, New Jersey, April 17 -- New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin issued the following news release:
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Statement by Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin on SCOTUS Decision to Grant Oral Argument on Birthright Citizenship
For Immediate Release: April 17, 2025
Office of the Attorney General
- Matthew J. Platkin, Attorney General
TRENTON -- After the Supreme Court of the United States granted oral arguments on the Trump Administration's attempt to unconstitutionally terminate birthright citizenship, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, who is co-leading a multi-statelawsuit with the Attorneys General of California and Massachusetts against this unlawful action, issued the following statement.
"President Trump's attempt to terminate birthright citizenship is blatantly unconstitutional, which is why every court to date has rejected his Administration's filings. We fought to prevent this unlawful order from stripping American citizenship from hundreds of thousands of Americans born across this country. Birthright citizenship was enshrined in the Constitution in the wake of the Civil War, is backed by a long line of Supreme Court precedent and ensures that something as fundamental as American citizenship cannot be turned on or off at the whims of a single man. We look forward to presenting our arguments to the Supreme Court in May."
***
Original text here: https://www.njoag.gov/statement-by-attorney-general-matthew-j-platkin-on-scotus-decision-to-grant-oral-argument-on-birthright-citizenship/
AG Nessel Joins Bipartisan Coalition of 41 Attorneys General Seeking Better Federal-State Cooperation to End Human Trafficking
LANSING, Michigan, April 17 -- Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel issued the following news release:
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AG Nessel Joins Bipartisan Coalition of 41 Attorneys General Seeking Better Federal-State Cooperation to End Human Trafficking
LANSING - Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel joined a bipartisan coalition of 41 state and territory attorneys general in a letter urging Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert Kennedy to require better cooperation with local law enforcement from the next operator of the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
"The National Human Trafficking
... Show Full Article
LANSING, Michigan, April 17 -- Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel issued the following news release:
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AG Nessel Joins Bipartisan Coalition of 41 Attorneys General Seeking Better Federal-State Cooperation to End Human Trafficking
LANSING - Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel joined a bipartisan coalition of 41 state and territory attorneys general in a letter urging Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert Kennedy to require better cooperation with local law enforcement from the next operator of the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
"The National Human TraffickingHotline plays a critical role in combatting trafficking," Nessel said. "Victims and witnesses often only report to the Hotline instead of local law enforcement, meaning if these tips don't reach the right authorities, there's no investigation, no liberation, and no justice for victims of these heinous crimes. That's why it is essential that information from this publicly funded Hotline is quickly shared with state and local law enforcement."
Since 2007, Polaris has operated the National Human Trafficking Hotline with millions of dollars in funding authorized by Congress. States rely on the Hotline to forward third-party tips of suspected human trafficking to local law enforcement to arrest traffickers, safely recover victims, and uncover evidence of trafficking rings and operations. It was recently discovered that Polaris was failing to forward third-party tips about adult victims to state law enforcement except in limited circumstances. Additionally, states have often discovered a delay of even several months before the Hotline shared those tips with states.
This practice is contrary to what Polaris itself advertises, to what states and organizations have come to expect from this partnership, and, the attorneys general believe, to what Congress expects from its funding. In February 2023, a bipartisan coalition of 36 attorneys general asked for Congress to require the Hotline to report these third-party tips to local law enforcement. As a result, then-HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra stated that the agency was "incorporating additional language in the next [award notice] outlining specific coordination requirements with law enforcement."
HHS is currently seeking applicants for a new award of this funding. That notice of funding opportunity does require the Hotline operator to develop a plan for working with law enforcement.
In the letter, the attorneys general ask Secretary Kennedy, "As you consider applicants, we urge you to ensure that the organization that is awarded the grant for the National Human Trafficking Hotline demonstrates its commitment to being a partner to our offices and local law enforcement with timely reports of trafficking tips. We have worked hard to teach the public the signs of trafficking and how to report it when they think they see it. But sending the public to the Hotline when they see someone in trouble is futile if the organization running it refuses to share those tips and share them in a timely manner."
The attorneys general continued, "To be clear, we are not asking that the Hotline report calls from victims who say they do not want their call reported. But we are asking them to send us the tips they get from anyone other than the victim. We are asking for the tips from the trucker who sees suspicious behavior on the road, the flight attendant who notices something unusual in the airport, the front desk clerk who sees something that does not make sense at their motel, or the citizen who sees the same woman being abused at the corner market week after week. Those tips matter, and reporting those tips can save lives."
The Attorney General is leading the fight against human trafficking in Michigan by prosecuting criminal cases under state laws banning human trafficking in Michigan, working with law enforcement task forces through the Human Trafficking Unit to help put an end to trafficking in the state. Last year, Attorney General Nessel charged individuals in connection to an alleged international human trafficking ring involving commercial sex at illicit massage parlors in metro Detroit and pursued charges against three individuals alleged to have labor trafficked a woman brought to the United States from India under the auspices of marriage.
Human trafficking can take on many forms, including forced labor and sexual exploitation. Labor trafficking is found in many different markets that consumers might not suspect, such as convenience stores, nail salons, massage parlors, farming and agriculture, and restaurants. Those being trafficked often do not even realize they are victims of human trafficking or are not aware of how to get help.
Human trafficking victims may:
* Exhibit signs of abuse, including bruises, cuts, burns, or scars;
* Not be in control of their own money or documents, including their driver's license or passport;
* Avoid eye contact with others and appear fearful of the person they're with;
* Not be allowed to communicate on their own behalf and another person may answer all questions on their behalf;
* Not be from the area or be aware of where they are; or
* Not admit they are victims or ask for help.
Victims of human trafficking or those who have identified someone they think may need help can contact the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 888-373-7888 or text 233733. This is a national, toll-free hotline that is available to answer calls, texts, and chats from anywhere in the country 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year. All calls are confidential. People who live in the State of Michigan who suspect human trafficking can call 855-MICH-TIP for assistance.
Additional information on the Attorney General's human trafficking initiative, including updated state laws prohibiting trafficking, is available on the Attorney General's website.
In addition to Attorney General Nessel, the letter was signed by the attorneys general of the following states and territories: Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawai'i, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
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The Honorable Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Secretary
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Hubert H. Humphrey Building
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
Subject: National Human Trafficking Hotline (Funding Opportunity No. HHS-20250ACF-IOAS-OTIP-ZV-0002)
Dear Secretary Kennedy:
Your agency plays a vital role in the fight to end the growing and persistent criminal enterprise of human trafficking through the National Human Trafficking Hotline, which is funded through a grant from HHS' Administration for Children & Families. As Attorneys General, we are dedicated partners in this effort, as well. We advocate for legislative changes to support anti-trafficking efforts and victim services. We raise public awareness about trafficking. And we support and engage in law enforcement efforts to disrupt trafficking operations and hold the perpetrators accountable.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline had long been an integral part of our work, until it was discovered a few years ago that the organization awarded the grant to run the Hotline, Polaris, was no longer sharing tips from concerned citizens and distressed family members with local law enforcement. Without those tips, our law enforcement loses critical leads to dismantling trafficking operations. We also lose valuable leads to rescuing the victims of trafficking and helping them begin the road to recovery.
To be clear, we are not asking that the Hotline report calls from victims who say they do not want their call reported. But we are asking them to send us the tips they get from anyone other than the victim. We are asking for the tips from the trucker who sees suspicious behavior on the road, the flight attendant who notices something unusual in the airport, the front desk clerk who sees something that does not make sense at their motel, or the citizen who sees the same woman being abused at the corner market week after week. Those tips matter, and reporting those tips can save lives.
The notice of funding opportunity posted on January 16, 2025, indicates that notifying law enforcement of potential cases of human trafficking is a function of the Hotline. Last year, your predecessor, in a response to a QFR posed by Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, and in response to concerns raised by a bipartisan coalition of 36 Attorneys General, indicated that the Department of Health and Human Services was taking steps to ensure that the Hotline would return to a better working relationship with law enforcement. In fact, then-Secretary Becerra stated that the Administration for Children and Families was "incorporating additional language in the next NOFO outlining specific coordination requirements with law enforcement."
The current NOFO does, in fact, include a requirement for the awardee to develop a plan to strategically engage law enforcement and to determine how to report tips to law enforcement. We cannot stress enough the importance of ensuring that this year's awardee is committed to notifying law enforcement of tips it receives from a vigilant public.
As Attorneys General, we spent years attempting to engage with Polaris in an honest dialogue about how vital those tips are to our efforts to help human trafficking victims. But in the end, we were unable to convince them of this necessity.
The grant's notice currently lists the closing date for applications as May 2, 2025. As you consider applicants, we urge you to ensure that the organization that is awarded the grant for the National Human Trafficking Hotline demonstrates its commitment to being a partner to our offices and local law enforcement with timely reports of trafficking tips. We have worked hard to teach the public the signs of trafficking and how to report it when they think they see it. But sending the public to the Hotline when they see someone in trouble is futile if the organization running it refuses to share those tips and share them in a timely manner.
We are committed to ending human trafficking and to helping its victims become survivors, recovering without shame or blame. And we offer ourselves as a resource to your team if you would like to discuss how we can partner to end human trafficking. We look forward to working with the new administrator of the Hotline and with you and your office to restore hope, dignity, and peace of mind to the victims of human trafficking.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Jennings, Delaware Attorney General
Liz Murrill, Louisiana Attorney General
Lynn Fitch, Mississippi Attorney General
Aaron D. Ford, Nevada Attorney General
Steve Marshall, Alabama Attorney General
Treg R. Taylor, Alaska Attorney General
Gwen Tauiliili-Langkilde, American Samoa Attorney General (Acting)
Tim Griffin, Arkansas Attorney General
Rob Bonta, California Attorney General
Phil Weiser, Colorado Attorney General
James Uthmeier, Florida Attorney General
Christopher M. Carr, Georgia Attorney General
Anne E. Lopez, Hawaii Attorney General
Raul Labrador, Idaho Attorney General
Kwame Raoul, Illinois Attorney General
Todd Rokita, Indiana Attorney General
Brenna Bird, Iowa Attorney General
Russell Coleman, Kentucky Attorney General
John M. Formella, New Hampshire Attorney General
Raul Torrez, New Mexico Attorney General
Letitia James, New York Attorney General
Jeff Jackson, North Carolina Attorney General
Drew H. Wrigley, North Dakota Attorney General
Dave Yost, Ohio Attorney General
Gentner Drummond, Oklahoma Attorney General
Dan Rayfield, Oregon Attorney General
Dave Sunday, Pennsylvania Attorney General
Peter F. Neronha, Rhode Island Attorney General
Alan Wilson, South Carolina Attorney General
Marty Jackley, South Dakota Attorney General
Jonathan Skrmetti, Tennessee Attorney General
Gordon C. Rhea, U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General
Derek Brown, Utah Attorney General
Charity Clark, Vermont Attorney General
Jason S. Miyares, Virginia Attorney General
John "JB" McCuskey, West Virginia Attorney General
Joshua L. Kaul, Wisconsin Attorney General
Bridget Hill, Wyoming Attorney General
***
Original text here: https://www.michigan.gov/ag/news/press-releases/2025/04/17/ag-nessel-joins-bipartisan-coalition-of-41-attorneys-general
Idaho A.G. Labrador Accepts Request to Review Investigative Findings in Officer-Involved Shooting in Pocatello
BOISE, Idaho, April 17 -- Idaho Attorney General Raul R. Labrador issued the following news release:
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Attorney General Labrador Accepts Request to Review Investigative Findings in Officer-Involved Shooting in Pocatello
BOISE -- The Idaho Office of the Attorney General has agreed to conduct the prosecutorial review of the investigative findings in the officer-involved shooting that occurred in Pocatello on Saturday, April 5, 2025. The request was made by the Bannock County Prosecuting Attorney.
"As with all such matters, the Office of the Attorney General will conduct a thorough and impartial
... Show Full Article
BOISE, Idaho, April 17 -- Idaho Attorney General Raul R. Labrador issued the following news release:
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Attorney General Labrador Accepts Request to Review Investigative Findings in Officer-Involved Shooting in Pocatello
BOISE -- The Idaho Office of the Attorney General has agreed to conduct the prosecutorial review of the investigative findings in the officer-involved shooting that occurred in Pocatello on Saturday, April 5, 2025. The request was made by the Bannock County Prosecuting Attorney.
"As with all such matters, the Office of the Attorney General will conduct a thorough and impartialreview once the Eastern Idaho Critical Incident Taskforce completes its investigation," said Attorney General Labrador. "Given the seriousness of the matter and the ongoing investigation, our office will not be making further public comment at this time."
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Original text here: https://www.ag.idaho.gov/newsroom/attorney-general-labrador-accepts-request-to-review-investigative-findings-in-officer-involved-shooting-in-pocatello/
Attorney General Tong Statement on Decision in Google Digital Advertising Antitrust Case
HARTFORD, Connecticut, April 17 -- Connecticut Attorney General William Tong issued the following news release:
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Attorney General Tong Statement on Decision in Google Digital Advertising Antitrust Case
(Hartford, CT) - Attorney General William Tong released the following statement following today's decision in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruling that Google illegally maintained an online monopoly in the advertising technology market.
"This is a game-changer," said Attorney General Tong. "As Judge Brinkema writes in her decision, Google was in direct violation
... Show Full Article
HARTFORD, Connecticut, April 17 -- Connecticut Attorney General William Tong issued the following news release:
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Attorney General Tong Statement on Decision in Google Digital Advertising Antitrust Case
(Hartford, CT) - Attorney General William Tong released the following statement following today's decision in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruling that Google illegally maintained an online monopoly in the advertising technology market.
"This is a game-changer," said Attorney General Tong. "As Judge Brinkema writes in her decision, Google was in direct violationof the Sherman Act by dictating how digital ads are sold and the terms under which its rivals can compete. With this victory in hand, we can hopefully work now towards restoring a fair, free, and competitive digital advertising marketplace. This decision is the first step in opening up competition so that Connecticut businesses and consumers will pay less for advertising - and therefore less for goods and services. We will no longer be under the thumb of a gigantic multinational conglomerate."
In the lawsuit, the states and Department of Justice alleged that Google has thwarted competition in this business sector over the past 15 years by systematically acquiring control over key ad-tech industry tools, including the largest advertising exchange where digital ads are bought and sold, and imposing restrictions that have unfairly undermined rivals' ability to compete.
Attorney General Tong and a bipartisan coalition of seven other attorneys general - as well as the U.S. Department of Justice - filed the lawsuit against Google for anticompetitive conduct in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act in January 2023. In August 2024, Attorney General Tong, the U.S. Department of Justice, and a coalition of 38 attorneys general won a separate ruling against Google that proved the company maintained an online monopoly in the online search market.
Click here to read the full decision.
Twitter: @AGWilliamTong
Facebook: CT Attorney General
Media Contact:
Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov
Consumer Inquiries:
860-808-5318
attorney.general@ct.gov
***
Original text here: https://portal.ct.gov/ag/press-releases/2025-press-releases/attorney-general-tong-statement-on-decision-in-google-digital-advertising-antitrust-case
Attorney General Ken Paxton Sues City of Dallas for Banning Guns on Public Property in Violation of Texas Law
AUSTIN, Texas, April 17 -- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued the following news release:
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Attorney General Ken Paxton Sues City of Dallas for Banning Guns on Public Property in Violation of Texas Law
Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed two lawsuits against the City of Dallas for banning lawful license holders from carrying handguns into Fair Park's Music Hall and The Majestic Theatre in blatant violation of Texas law.
The City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs leases both The Majestic Theatre and Music Hall at Fair Park. Under Texas law, governmental subdivisions have no authority
... Show Full Article
AUSTIN, Texas, April 17 -- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued the following news release:
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Attorney General Ken Paxton Sues City of Dallas for Banning Guns on Public Property in Violation of Texas Law
Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed two lawsuits against the City of Dallas for banning lawful license holders from carrying handguns into Fair Park's Music Hall and The Majestic Theatre in blatant violation of Texas law.
The City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs leases both The Majestic Theatre and Music Hall at Fair Park. Under Texas law, governmental subdivisions have no authorityto prohibit license holders from carrying their handguns as Dallas has repeatedly done to citizens, going so far as threatening to arrest law-abiding citizens seeking to participate in their rights. Now, Attorney General Paxton has sued Dallas for wrongfully infringing on Texans' gun rights.
"The law is clear. Cities like Dallas have no authority to override state statutes that enable license holders to lawfully carry their handguns and protect themselves from potential threats," said Attorney General Paxton. "I will always do everything in my power to defend Texans' gun rights from cities that would strip us of our legal rights."
Attorney General Paxton similarly sued the City of Dallas in 2024 for unlawfully restricting license holders from carrying their handguns into the Texas State Fair.
To read the Music Hall filing, click here.
To read The Majestic Theatre filing, click here.
***
Original text here: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-sues-city-dallas-banning-guns-public-property-violation-texas-law
ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL URGES HHS TO REQUIRE BETTER FEDERAL-STATE COOPERATION TO END HUMAN TRAFFICKING
CHICAGO, Illinois, April 17 -- Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul issued the following news release:
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ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL URGES HHS TO REQUIRE BETTER FEDERAL-STATE COOPERATION TO END HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Chicago - Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined a bipartisan coalition of 41 attorneys general in submitting a comment letter urging Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. to require better cooperation with local law enforcement from the next operator of the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
"Law enforcement relies on tips from the public to effectively
... Show Full Article
CHICAGO, Illinois, April 17 -- Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul issued the following news release:
* * *
ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL URGES HHS TO REQUIRE BETTER FEDERAL-STATE COOPERATION TO END HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Chicago - Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined a bipartisan coalition of 41 attorneys general in submitting a comment letter urging Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. to require better cooperation with local law enforcement from the next operator of the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
"Law enforcement relies on tips from the public to effectivelycombat human trafficking," Raoul said. "Ensuring that information gets to law enforcement in a timely manner without compromising victims' safety can save lives, which is why I am joining with my colleagues on a bipartisan basis to call on HHS to require the next operator of the National Human Trafficking Hotline to do a better job of partnering with local law enforcement and promptly forwarding human trafficking tips."
Since 2007, the nonprofit organization Polaris Project (Polaris) has operated the National Human Trafficking Hotline with millions of dollars in funding authorized by Congress. States like Illinois rely on the hotline to forward third-party tips of suspected human trafficking to local law enforcement to arrest traffickers, safely recover victims, and uncover evidence of trafficking rings and operations. However, it was recently discovered that, except in limited circumstances, Polaris has failed to forward third-party tips about adult victims to state law enforcement and often delayed sharing hotline tips with states for several months.
In their letter, Raoul and the attorneys general explain this practice is contrary to what Polaris advertises, to what states and organizations have come to expect from this partnership, and to what Congress expects from its funding. HHS is currently seeking applicants for a new award for current funding, which requires the hotline operator to develop a plan for working with law enforcement.
Raoul and the coalition urge Secretary Kennedy to consider applicants for the National Human Trafficking Hotline grant that demonstrate a commitment to partnering with the attorneys general and local law enforcement with timely trafficking tip reports. The coalition clarified they are not asking the hotline to send tips from a victim who does not want their call reported, but from anyone other than a victim, such as truck drivers, flight attendants or motel desk clerks who notice suspicious behavior.
Joining Raoul in sending the letter are the state and territories attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virgin Islands, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
* * *
The Honorable Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Secretary
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Hubert H. Humphrey Building
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
Subject: National Human Trafficking Hotline (Funding Opportunity No. HHS-20250ACF-IOAS-OTIP-ZV-0002)
Dear Secretary Kennedy:
Your agency plays a vital role in the fight to end the growing and persistent criminal enterprise of human trafficking through the National Human Trafficking Hotline, which is funded through a grant from HHS' Administration for Children & Families. As Attorneys General, we are dedicated partners in this effort, as well. We advocate for legislative changes to support anti-trafficking efforts and victim services. We raise public awareness about trafficking. And we support and engage in law enforcement efforts to disrupt trafficking operations and hold the perpetrators accountable.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline had long been an integral part of our work, until it was discovered a few years ago that the organization awarded the grant to run the Hotline, Polaris, was no longer sharing tips from concerned citizens and distressed family members with local law enforcement. Without those tips, our law enforcement loses critical leads to dismantling trafficking operations. We also lose valuable leads to rescuing the victims of trafficking and helping them begin the road to recovery.
To be clear, we are not asking that the Hotline report calls from victims who say they do not want their call reported. But we are asking them to send us the tips they get from anyone other than the victim. We are asking for the tips from the trucker who sees suspicious behavior on the road, the flight attendant who notices something unusual in the airport, the front desk clerk who sees something that does not make sense at their motel, or the citizen who sees the same woman being abused at the corner market week after week. Those tips matter, and reporting those tips can save lives.
The notice of funding opportunity posted on January 16, 2025, indicates that notifying law enforcement of potential cases of human trafficking is a function of the Hotline. Last year, your predecessor, in a response to a QFR posed by Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, and in response to concerns raised by a bipartisan coalition of 36 Attorneys General, indicated that the Department of Health and Human Services was taking steps to ensure that the Hotline would return to a better working relationship with law enforcement. In fact, then-Secretary Becerra stated that the Administration for Children and Families was "incorporating additional language in the next NOFO outlining specific coordination requirements with law enforcement."
The current NOFO does, in fact, include a requirement for the awardee to develop a plan to strategically engage law enforcement and to determine how to report tips to law enforcement. We cannot stress enough the importance of ensuring that this year's awardee is committed to notifying law enforcement of tips it receives from a vigilant public.
As Attorneys General, we spent years attempting to engage with Polaris in an honest dialogue about how vital those tips are to our efforts to help human trafficking victims. But in the end, we were unable to convince them of this necessity.
The grant's notice currently lists the closing date for applications as May 2, 2025. As you consider applicants, we urge you to ensure that the organization that is awarded the grant for the National Human Trafficking Hotline demonstrates its commitment to being a partner to our offices and local law enforcement with timely reports of trafficking tips. We have worked hard to teach the public the signs of trafficking and how to report it when they think they see it. But sending the public to the Hotline when they see someone in trouble is futile if the organization running it refuses to share those tips and share them in a timely manner.
We are committed to ending human trafficking and to helping its victims become survivors, recovering without shame or blame. And we offer ourselves as a resource to your team if you would like to discuss how we can partner to end human trafficking. We look forward to working with the new administrator of the Hotline and with you and your office to restore hope, dignity, and peace of mind to the victims of human trafficking.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Jennings, Delaware Attorney General
Liz Murrill, Louisiana Attorney General
Lynn Fitch, Mississippi Attorney General
Aaron D. Ford, Nevada Attorney General
Steve Marshall, Alabama Attorney General
Treg R. Taylor, Alaska Attorney General
Gwen Tauiliili-Langkilde, American Samoa Attorney General (Acting)
Tim Griffin, Arkansas Attorney General
Rob Bonta, California Attorney General
Phil Weiser, Colorado Attorney General
James Uthmeier, Florida Attorney General
Christopher M. Carr, Georgia Attorney General
Anne E. Lopez, Hawaii Attorney General
Raul Labrador, Idaho Attorney General
Kwame Raoul, Illinois Attorney General
Todd Rokita, Indiana Attorney General
Brenna Bird, Iowa Attorney General
Russell Coleman, Kentucky Attorney General
Dana Nessel, Michigan Attorney General
Andrew Bailey, Missouri Attorney General
Mike Hilgers, Nebraska Attorney General
John M. Formella, New Hampshire Attorney General
Raul Torrez, New Mexico Attorney General
Letitia James, New York Attorney General
Jeff Jackson, North Carolina Attorney General
Drew H. Wrigley, North Dakota Attorney General
Dave Yost, Ohio Attorney General
Gentner Drummond, Oklahoma Attorney General
Dan Rayfield, Oregon Attorney General
Dave Sunday, Pennsylvania Attorney General
Peter F. Neronha, Rhode Island Attorney General
Alan Wilson, South Carolina Attorney General
Marty Jackley, South Dakota Attorney General
Jonathan Skrmetti, Tennessee Attorney General
Gordon C. Rhea, U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General
Derek Brown, Utah Attorney General
Charity Clark, Vermont Attorney General
Jason S. Miyares, Virginia Attorney General
John "JB" McCuskey, West Virginia Attorney General
Joshua L. Kaul, Wisconsin Attorney General
Bridget Hill, Wyoming Attorney General
***
Original text here: https://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/news/story/attorney-general-raoul-urges-hhs-to-require-better-federal-state-cooperation-to-end-human-trafficking-4-17-25
AG Platkin Sues Messaging App "Discord" for Unlawful Practices That Expose NJ Kids to Child Predators and Violent, Sexual Content
TRENTON, New Jersey, April 17 -- New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin issued the following news release:
* * *
AG Platkin Sues Messaging App "Discord" for Unlawful Practices That Expose NJ Kids to Child Predators and Violent, Sexual Content
For Immediate Release: April 17, 2025
Office of The Attorney General
- Matthew J. Platkin, Attorney General
Division of Consumer Affairs
- Cari Fais, Director
Division of Law
- Michael C. Walters, Acting Director
Complaint
TRENTON -- Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Division of Consumer Affairs announced a lawsuit
... Show Full Article
TRENTON, New Jersey, April 17 -- New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin issued the following news release:
* * *
AG Platkin Sues Messaging App "Discord" for Unlawful Practices That Expose NJ Kids to Child Predators and Violent, Sexual Content
For Immediate Release: April 17, 2025
Office of The Attorney General
- Matthew J. Platkin, Attorney General
Division of Consumer Affairs
- Cari Fais, Director
Division of Law
- Michael C. Walters, Acting Director
Complaint
TRENTON -- Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Division of Consumer Affairs announced a lawsuittoday against messaging application provider Discord, Inc. ("Discord") for deceptive and unconscionable business practices that misled parents about the efficacy of its safety controls and obscured the risks children faced when using the application. The multiyear investigation by the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General and Division of Consumer Affairs revealed Discord's conduct violated New Jersey's consumer protection laws and exposed New Jersey children to sexual and violent content, leaving them vulnerable to online predators lurking on the Discord app.
The complaint, filed partially under seal today in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Essex County, alleges Discord engaged in multiple violations of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act ("CFA"). Discord knew its safety features and policies could not and did not protect its youthful user base, but refused to do better, the complaint alleges. In particular, Discord misled parents and kids about its safety settings for direct messages ("DMs").
"Discord markets itself as a safe space for children, despite being fully aware that the application's misleading safety settings and lax oversight has made it a prime hunting ground for online predators seeking easy access to children," said Attorney General Platkin. "These deceptive claims regarding its safety settings have allowed Discord to attract a growing number of children to use its application, where they are at risk. We intend to put a stop to this unlawful conduct and hold Discord accountable for the harm it has caused our children."
Discord, based in San Francisco, owns and manages an application that allows users to communicate through text, audio, and video. Since its inception in May 2015, the app has become one of the most popular online social platforms in the world, especially among children, who make up a significant portion of Discord's massive user base.
According to the filed complaint, the investigation revealed that, for years, Discord has represented its app as safe--relying in part on its policies barring underage use of the app and the circulation of explicit material, including child sexual abuse content. Most importantly, Discord has touted its Safe Direct Messaging feature and its successors, which it claimed to automatically scan and delete private direct messages that contained explicit media content. But Discord's promises fell, and continue to fall, flat, the complaint alleges.
News accounts and reports from prosecutors' offices illustrate that despite the app's promises of child safety, predators use the app to stalk, contact, and victimize children. These sources identify alarming cases where adults were charged and convicted with using Discord to contact children, often posing as children themselves, and transmitting and soliciting explicit images through the app, including through the use of sextortion. In many criminal cases involving sexual exploitation of children on Discord, the children were under the age of 13, despite Discord's claim to enforce its policy prohibiting children under 13 from using the app.
"Discord claims that safety is at the core of everything it does, but the truth is, the application is not safe for children. Discord's deliberate misrepresentation of the application's safety settings has harmed--and continues to harm--New Jersey's children, and must stop," said Cari Fais, Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. "By filing this lawsuit, we're sending a clear message that New Jersey will not allow businesses to grow their customer base through unlawful and deceptive practices, especially when those practices put children at grave risk."
Highlights of the complaint's allegations include, but are not limited to:
Discord's Platform is Structured to Encourage Unchecked and Unmoderated Engagement Among Its Users
Discord designed its app to appeal to children's desire for personalization and play by offering custom emojis, stickers, and soundboard effects, all of which are intended to make chats more engaging and kid-friendly. And it has created or facilitated "student hubs" as well as communities focused on popular kids' games, like Roblox.
Once engaged, Discord encourages and facilitates free interaction and engagement between its users. Specifically, Discord's default settings allow users to receive friend requests from anyone on the app--and to receive private direct messages from friends and anyone using the same server or virtual "community"--enabling child users to connect easily and become "friends" with hundreds of other users. Then, because Discord's default safety settings disable message scanning between "friends," child users can be--and are--inundated with explicit content. This explicit content can include user-created child sexual abuse material, messages intended to sexually exploit or coerce a child to engage in self-harm, internet links to sexually explicit content, images, and videos depicting violence, and videos containing sexually explicit content. In short, the app's design makes it easy for children to connect with other users, but also allows predators to lurk and target them, undeterred by the safety features Discord touts as reasons that parents and users should trust its app.
Discord Misled Users About its "Safe Direct Messaging" Feature
From March 28, 2017 until April 22, 2023, Discord included "Safe Direct Messaging" settings in the "Privacy & Safety" menu of Discord's "User Settings." The settings purported to address how direct messages from other users will be scanned and deleted before receipt by the intended user. The Safe Direct Messaging setting contained three options:
* Keep me safe. Scan direct messages from everyone.
* My friends are nice. Scan direct messages from everyone unless they are a friend.
* Do not scan. Direct messages with not be scanned for explicit content.
For most of the feature's existence, Discord made the "My friends are nice" option the default setting for every new user on the app. This option only scanned incoming direct messages if the sender was not on the user's friends list. For both the "Keep me Safe" and "My friends are nice" settings, Discord represented that it would "[a]utomatically scan and delete direct messages you receive that contain explicit media content." But this was not true. Despite its claims, Discord knew that not all explicit content was being detected or deleted.
Discord's Design Decisions Exacerbated the Risk to Children on the App
Combined with Discord's deception about its Safe Direct Messaging features, Discord's other design choices worked together to virtually ensure that children were harmed or placed at risk of harm on its app. For example:
* By default, Discord allows users to exchange DMs if they belong to a common server. Therefore, a malicious user--adult or child--need only to join a community server, which could contain over a million users, to exchange DMs with an unsuspecting child user.
* DMs among "friends" are even more dangerous. Discord's default settings not only allow any user to send a friend request to a child, they also then permit those users, once "friends," to exchange totally unscanned DMs through the default "My friends are nice" setting. Children can receive and accept friend requests from users whom they do not know and with whom they have no connection, and then engage privately on the platform without any oversight--all by design.
* Users may also create multiple accounts to hide their activities and circumvent being banned from servers, or from facing other repercussions. And even if users are banned from a server, or from Discord itself, Discord's design allows them to simply re-engage using a brand new, easily created account.
Discord Misrepresented That Users Under the Age of 13 Are Not Permitted to Create Accounts and Are Banned from Discord Upon Discovery
At all relevant times, Discord's Terms of Service have stated that users must be "at least 13 years old and meet the minimum age required by the laws in [the users'] country." To this day, however, Discord only requires individuals to enter their date of birth to establish their age when creating an account--nothing more. Discord does not require users to verify their age or identity in any other way. Simple verification measures could have prevented predators from creating false accounts and kept children under 13 off the app more effectively.
Nevertheless, Discord actively chose not to bolster its age verification process for years and has allowed children under the age of 13 to operate freely on the app, despite their vulnerability to sexual predators.
Simply put, Discord has promised parents safety while simultaneously making deliberate choices about its app's design and default settings, including Safe Direct Messaging and age verification systems, that broke those promises. As a result of Discord's decisions, thousands of users were misled into signing up, believing they or their children would be safe, when they were really anything but.
The lawsuit seeks a number of remedies, including an injunction to stop Discord from violating the CFA, civil penalties, and the disgorgement of any profits generated in New Jersey through this unlawful behavior.
Today's complaint is the latest action taken by the Office of the Attorney General to keep children safe online. Last fall, the office sued media giant TikTok for unlawful conduct tied to features that keep children and teens online for ever-increasing amounts of time despite the harms that result. A year earlier it sued Meta Platforms, the owner of Instagram and Facebook, for similar unlawful conduct. Both the Meta and TikTok complaints arose from the same national investigation, which was co-led by New Jersey. Additionally, in recent years, the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice has prosecuted numerous cases in which defendants allegedly used social media platforms and chat apps-including Discord--to prey on children and engage them in sexually explicit conversations as a means of obtaining child sexual abuse material.
Deputy Attorneys General Mandy Wang, Ethan Rubin, and Kathleen Riley, under the supervision of Data Privacy & Cybersecurity Section Chief Kashif T. Chand and Assistant Section Chief Thomas Huynh, and Deputy Director Sara M. Gregory, within the Division of Law's Affirmative Civil Enforcement Practice Group, are representing the State in the matter. Investigator Aziza Salikhova of the Office of Consumer Protection within the Division of Consumer Affairs conducted the investigation.
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Original text here: https://www.njoag.gov/ag-platkin-sues-messaging-app-discord-for-unlawful-practices-that-expose-nj-kids-to-child-predators-and-violent-sexual-content/
