Parents Sue Discord Over Child’s Live‑Streamed Suicide for ‘764’ Cult
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We all know social media can be dangerous for kids, but a new lawsuit alleges Discord went far beyond typical online risks. Jay Taylor’s parents say the platform knowingly enabled a child‑abuse cult that drove their 13‑year‑old son to a live‑streamed death. Last Thursday, the Taylors brought a lawsuit in a Washington state court. FindLaw will take you through the troubling details alleged in their complaint.
Sewing Seeds of Discord
According to Jay’s parents, Discord is a social platform built around user‑created “servers,” topic‑based spaces with channels where people can chat, share files, and stream video. Discord also hosts official, “verified” servers for blockbuster games popular with children, such as Fortnite and games found on Roblox.
These plaintiffs allege Discord invites users as young as thirteen, does not meaningfully verify age or identity, and lets children and adults interact freely in public and private spaces. They say the platform is especially attractive to young adolescents struggling with mental health or family issues.
The Taylors allege Discord deliberately marketed itself as a safe place for teens and school communities, pointing to “Student Hubs,” “safety by design” messaging, and a stated “zero‑tolerance policy” for child sexual exploitation. At the same time, they say, Discord designed a product “rife with risk‑amplifying features,” prided itself on being lightly moderated, lacked safety measures such as parental monitoring or alerts when Jay died, and had only about 79 trust‑and‑safety staff in 2022 — far fewer than peer platforms.
764: A ‘Pyramid of Abuse’
The Taylors describe that in 2021, Texas teenager Bradley Felix Cadenhead founded the online network 764. He apparently named it after part of his ZIP code and chose Discord because of its young user base and lack of oversight.
According to the complaint, 764 runs a “pyramid of abuse” on Discord. Leaders recruit and radicalize kids, sometimes turning victims into perpetrators. The complaint describes children being forced to send sexual images, hurt animals, carve words into their skin, mutilate themselves, and attempt or complete suicide — often on livestream so others can watch, record, and use the footage for blackmail. The plaintiffs say law enforcement and child safety agencies treat 764 as a top‑tier threat tied to hundreds of investigations and abuse reports.
L.S. and ‘White Tiger’
The complaint uses a second victim, “L.S.,” to show how 764 allegedly operates. L.S. is a 12‑year‑old girl from Finland. Somebody who went by “White Tiger” allegedly groomed and abused her on Discord over many months. According to subsequent law‑enforcement investigations, the FBI later identified “White Tiger” as Shahriar Javan, a young German‑Iranian medical student from Hamburg.
The plaintiffs say he mixed flattery with threats and pushed her into increasingly extreme acts on livestream. They allege he made her carve “White Tiger” into her thighs on camera, torture and dismember a small bird, and cut herself to draw a tic‑tac‑toe board in blood while he and other 764 members called the moves. When she later said she was suicidal and wanted a normal life, he allegedly urged her to kill herself on camera, then told her she could only stay alive if she found “somebody else to die.”
Pen Pal to Death Pact
The Taylors allege that in January 2022, Jay turned to Discord for connection while struggling with adolescence and mental health. He lived with his parents and three siblings in Gig Harbor, Washington. The complaint says he posted that he “had a sudden urge to get a pen pal” and was looking for transgender or gay friends who liked crafts, reflecting his interest in crochet.
According to the complaint, L.S., under pressure from Javan and 764, responded to Jay’s post on January 17, 2022 and started chatting with him. She had already been given a script on how to push someone toward suicide and how to set up a suicide livestream. The complaint says Jay had a history of depression but was in treatment and at first resisted, telling L.S. he felt better, did not want to die, and had “some good stuff going on in life.”
The plaintiffs allege that L.S. kept pressing him to die with her in a suicide pact and told him using a cord would not hurt. Eventually, the complaint says, Jay agreed and said he would hang himself with an extension cord because he did not want L.S. to die alone.
Content retrieved from: https://www.findlaw.com/legalblogs/law-and-life/parents-sue-discord-over-childs-live-streamed-suicide-for-764-cult/.
