Brazil’s data authority orders Discord to suspend live-streaming over child safety concerns
The Brazilian National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) has issued a preventative measure affecting Discord’s video-sharing functions in Brazil. Discord has been under scrutiny since police identified suspects who allegedly induced a 13-year-old girl to take her own life during a live broadcast.
According to ANDP, it identified ‘failures in the implementation of structural measures and procedures to prevent and combat serious violations against children and adolescents’.
The ANPD ordered Discord to suspend its live-streaming features and equivalent video-sharing resources within three business days. The agency cited ‘robust evidence‘ that Discord failed to adopt reasonable measures to prevent or mitigate risks of induction, incitement, or assistance to violence, self-harm, and suicide, as defined by the Digital Statute for Children and Adolescents (ECA Digital).
The suspension will remain in effect until Discord demonstrates adequate technical, security, and governance measures. The regulator also outlined potential administrative sanctions of up to R$ 50 million per infraction and noted a 54 per cent increase in complaints involving Discord.
In a blog post, Discord stated that it received ‘an order from Brazil’s National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) requiring us to suspend screensharing and video features in Brazil’. The company confirmed that it complied with the order immediately and acknowledged that it followed ‘a devastating case involving the death of a teenage girl after a coordinated sadistic harm campaign that was carried out across multiple platforms’.
Why does it matter?
Platforms are facing increasing scrutiny over child safety. This case concerns the extent to which tech companies can be held legally and operationally accountable for systemic failures to protect minors from online harm such as coordinated abuse and self-harm incitement. Brazil has acted under its child protection regulations, and the case will likely be watched by other regulators considering similar situations. At issue is how platforms treat real-time streaming moderation, what safety-by-design requirements need to be put in place, and what enforcement measures – from localised feature bans to financial penalties – are to be taken if companies fail to implement them.
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