Brazil Orders Discord to Suspend Live Streams Amid Child Protection Concerns

Brazil has mandated Discord to halt its live streaming operations, citing serious concerns over the platform's alleged inability to protect minors. This decisive action comes in the wake of a tragic incident where a 13-year-old girl was reportedly incited to commit suicide during a 45-minute live broadcast on the messaging app.

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lives have been used 'recurrently' for 'practices of violence, harassment, incitement to self-harm and suicide' against minors.

The National Data Protection Agency (ANPD) stated that Discord's live streams have been "recurrently used" for "practices of violence, harassment, incitement to self-harm and suicide" targeting minors. The agency has given Discord three business days to comply with the suspension order. Failure to do so could result in daily fines reaching up to 50 million reais (approximately $9.2 million USD).

Police have arrested five teenagers and one adult in connection with the case. In a separate operation, authorities successfully intervened to save another girl who was reportedly on the verge of committing suicide live online. The ANPD found "robust evidence" that Discord "did not adopt reasonable measures to prevent and mitigate risks of serious violations of the rights of children and adolescents."

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evidence robusta de que la empresa no adoptó medidas razonables para prevenir y mitigar riesgos (...) de graves violaciones de derechos de niños y adolescentes.

Rosangela “Janja” da Silva, the wife of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, had publicly called for the platform's closure in Brazil last week. Discord, a platform popular among gamers and teenagers and based in the United States, expressed disappointment with the "premature" decision but affirmed its cooperation with authorities. Brazil has been increasingly focused on online child protection, recently implementing rules requiring parental linkage for accounts of minors under 16 and age verification for users.

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We are disappointed by the premature adoption of this measure, but we are cooperating with the authorities in the investigation.