New Jersey
New Jersey sues popular chat app Discord over child safety concerns
New Jersey is the first state in America to sue Discord, a messaging app popular among gamers.
“I’m horrified by Discord as a company’s dishonesty,” said Attorney General Matt Platkin. “It tells parents that their app is designed to protect children from harm, knowing full well that simply is not the case.”
Two hundred million users are on Discord to chat over video, audio or text. The state argues that its youngest users aren’t protected.
Discord requires its users to be at least 13 years old. But there isn’t any age verification to sign up in the United States – anyone can say they are any age. In the United Kingdom and Australia, Discord is “experimenting” with requiring users to scan their face or an ID to access sensitive content or change settings.
This week, a Toms River man was charged for traveling to Norway in 2023 to have sex with a 14-year-old girl. According to the complaint, 28-year-old Jacob Bauer chatted with the girl on Discord.
By default, Discord users can receive friend requests from anyone. But two users can chat even without being friends if they’re in the same server. The largest have millions of users.
“It’s another tool that bad actors online can use,” said Rowan University academic Esports coordinator Dr. Kacey Doran. “I don’t think that it’s inherently more unsafe than other online tools that children are going to use.”
The Rowan University Esports club has its own Discord server, but users need a university email to join. Doran says effective moderators can make the difference.
“It makes me sad and scared and disappointed,” Doran said. “I have nephews, and I play video games with them. I can picture and understand people’s concerns about this. And so, that would be my recommendation – not to set up community servers without having dedicated, responsible people who are moderating it.”
The state is asking for an injunction to stop Discord from violating the Consumer Fraud Act, as well as returning profits.
Discord spokesperson Jillian Susi replied with this statement:
“Discord is proud of our continuous efforts and investments in features and tools that help make Discord safer. Given our engagement with the Attorney General’s office, we are surprised by the announcement that New Jersey has filed an action against Discord today. We dispute the claims in the lawsuit and look forward to defending the action in court.”
New Jersey
63 mph wind was clocked during Friday’s storms. See top gusts in each N.J. county.
Trees were blown down. Electrical poles were snapped. And Christmas decorations went flying off lawns.
All thanks to Friday’s intense storms, which generated wind gusts as strong as 63 mph at the High Point Monument in Sussex County, 60 mph at Teterboro Airport in Bergen County and 60 mph in Belleville in Essex County.
Those were among the highest gusts clocked across the Garden State, according to the National Weather Service and the Rutgers NJ Weather Network.
Fierce gusts also were whipping down in South Jersey and along the Jersey Shore, and triggered more than 40,000 power outages across the state Friday afternoon and Friday evening.
Here’s a look at the highest wind gusts reported in each of New Jersey’s 21 counties on Friday:
Atlantic County
- 52 mph at Atlantic City International Airport
- 51 mph in Forsythe
- 48 mph at Atlantic City Marina
- 47 mph in Brigantine
- 45 mph in Pleasantville
- 44 mph in Pleasantville Point
Bergen County
- 56 mph at Teterboro Airport
- 47 mph in Lyndhurst
Burlington County
- 52 mph at McGuire AFB
- 48 mph at Coyle Field
- 47 mph at South Jersey Regional Airport
- 46 mph in Moorestown
- 41 mph in Tabernacle
- 40 mph in Silas Little
- 40 mph in Medford Village
Camden County
- 52 mph in Pennsauken
- 41 mph in Blue Anchor
Cape May County
- 50 mph in Avalon
- 49 mph in Cape May
- 49 mph in Cape May Harbor
- 46 mph in Wildwood
- 46 mph in Ocean City
- 42 mph in Woodbine
- 41 mph at Woodbine Municipal Airport
- 40 mph in North Wildwood
Cumberland County
- 48 mph in Fortescue
- 47 mph in Upper Deerfield
- 45 mph in Millville
- 44 mph in Greenwich
- 39 mph in Vineland
Essex County
- 60 mph in Belleville
- 59 mph at Newark Liberty Airport
- 45 mph in Caldwell
Gloucester County
- 60 mph in Logan Twp.
- 45 mph at Kingsway Regional H.S.
- 42 mph in West Deptford
- 41 mph in South Harrison
Hudson County
- 41 mph in Bayonne
- 40 mph in Jersey City
Hunterdon County
- 47 mph in Pittstown
- 44 mph in Teetertown
- 40 mph in Milford
Mercer County
- 52 mph at Trenton Mercer Airport
- 48 mph in Hopewell Twp.
- 44 mph in Woodsville
- 43 mph in Ewing
Middlesex County
- 51 mph in Perth Amboy
- 47 mph in Carteret
- 47 mph in Deans (South Brunswick)
- 42 mph in East Brunswick
- 40 mph in New Brunswick
Monmouth County
- 56 mph in Sea Bright
- 56 mph in Keansburg
- 54 mph in Sea Girt
- 51 mph in Monmouth
- 46 mph in Cream Ridge
- 43 mph in Millstone Twp.
- 43 mph in Oceanport
Morris County
- 49 mph in Pompton Plains
- 46 mph in Morristown
- 41 mph at Pequannock Twp. High School
- 40 mph in Randolph
Ocean County
- 57 mph in Mantoloking
- 55 mph in Surf City
- 54 mph in Harvey Cedars
- 53 mph in Beach Haven
- 52 mph in Toms River
- 50 mph in North Beach Haven
- 49 mph in Berkeley Twp.
- 49 mph in Seaside Heights
- 49 mph at Rutgers
- 48 mph in Seaside Park
- 47 mph at Trixies Landing
- 46 mph in Tuckerton
- 46 mph in North Beach
- 43 mph in South Seaside Park
Passaic County
- 44 mph in Charlotteburg
- 30 mph in Little Falls
Salem County
- 52 mph in Lower Alloways Creek
- 44 mph in Mannington Twp.
Somerset County
- 47 mph in Franklin Twp.
- 44 mph in Somerville
- 41 mph in Hillsborough
- 41 mph in Manville
Sussex County
- 63 mph at High Point Monument
- 50 mph in Hardyston Twp.
- 41 mph in Sussex
Union County
- 59 mph at Newark Liberty Airport
- 49 mph in Linden
Warren County
- 47 mph in Stewartsville
- 40 mph in Blairstown
- 39 mph in Hackettstown
Current weather radar
New Jersey
Noesen’s Power Play Goal Pushes Devils Past Mammoth | GAME STORY | New Jersey Devils
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – The Devils spent much of the night against the Utah Mammoth searching for answers on the power play, watching chances come and go, starting the game 0-for-4 with the man-advantage. That frustration finally broke when Stefan Noesen planted himself in the crease and finished in tight on Karel Vejmelka to give New Jersey the breakthrough they desperately needed.
“Great road win,” Brett Pesce said. “Didn’t have our best, myself included, felt like I hadn’t played in two months,” Brett Pesce said. “You know what, we got a win, we grinded it out, good teams find ways to get to two points.”
Noesen’s conversion provided a much-needed release on an ailing power play, and the timing made it even more significant. Not only did it snap the drought, but it also handed the Devils their first lead of the night against the Mammoth, one they would hang on to win 2-1 in Utah.
Not to be outdone, Jacob Markstrom was rock solid, allowing just a single goal to Utah, in the first period. As the Devils tried to find their footing in the game, with failed power play opportunities, and Utah pressing hard, Markstrom held the fort.
“This one is on him tonight,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We don’t get the opportunity to hang around in the game and have big moments like we did in the third with the penalty kill and power play, if not for Marky and how held us in. We were outplayed for long stretches of the game, but it’s going to happen from time to time.”
The Devils had a gut-check moment at the end of the third period, when Dawson Mercer took a penalty in the dying minutes of the game and the Mammoth pulled their goalie for a 6-on-4. New Jersey came up with the clears and the blocks to hang on for the victory.
The Devils weren’t going to be denied the opportunity for a win, as Connor Brown explained:
“Marky deserved the win at that point, it was a bit scrambly, maybe a bit more scrambly than we would have liked but they got two extra guys on the ice, so it was nice to gut one out.”
Utah opened the game scoring with a first-period power-play goal by Daniil But, before Connor Brown tied the game in the second period, his second goal in as many games and his third in four.
“I’m playing my brand of hockey,” Brown said. “I’m being empowered a little more, playing a little more minutes than typically have over the last couple of years and it’s leading into a little bit more confidence, little bit more plays, so just kind of running with it.”
The Devils have started to find some more stride in their game and are winning four of their last six, including two straight on the two-game road trip through Vegas and Utah.
New Jersey
NJ corrections officer charged with sexually assaulting prison inmates
What happens when someone is arrested and charged with a crime?
When someone is arrested and charged with a crime, police departments observe a protocol that includes the reading of Miranda Rights.
A Piscataway man who works as a New Jersey Department of Corrections officer in the state’s prison for sex offenders has been charged with sexually assaulting two inmates.
Anthony Nelson, 37, was charged with sexually assaulting the inmates at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in the Avenel section of Woodbridge, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone announced.
Nelson was arrested without incident on Dec. 15 and charged with two counts of second-degree sexual assault and two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact, Ciccone said.
The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office was alerted by New Jersey Department of Corrections Special Investigations Division on Dec. 1 that two inmates reported they were sexually assaulted by a correctional police officer over that past weekend, the prosecutor said.
An investigation led by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit along with the New Jersey Department of Corrections Special Investigations Division determined that Nelson allegedly sexually assaulted two inmates under his supervision, the prosecutor said.
Nelson was lodged at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center awaiting a preliminary hearing before a Superior Court judge.
The investigation is active and ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detectives Christopher Van Eerde or Tammy Colonna at 732-745-3300 or Investigator Sean Smith at 856-812-3310.
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