Brazil orders Discord to suspend live streaming

Update, Aug. 21, 2026: Brazil’s ANPD confirmed it opened an enforcement case and backed the measure under the ECA Digital and the LGPD. It also said Discord has three business days to show compliance before the matter could move toward new sanctions.

Brazil’s National Data Protection Authority ordered Discord, the U.S.-based chat platform, to suspend its livestreaming features in the country. The preventive order, issued on Aug. 12, 2026, gave the company three business days to show it meets child protection requirements related to content that promotes violence, self-harm and suicide.

What exactly did the ANPD order?

The ANPD ordered Go Live and equivalent live-streaming features to be suspended in Brazil until the company proves it has adopted effective safeguards. The restriction does not affect Discord as a whole, since text messages and voice channels remain active, but streaming is blocked pending regulator approval.

Later coverage clarified that the order also covers other live transmission tools and screen sharing, expanding the practical impact on real-time video functions. Reuters also reported that the decision was made under Brazil’s LGPD and data protection rules, with a focus on minors’ safety.

What legal basis did the regulator use?

The ANPD’s Superintendency of Inspection said the decision is based on the Digital Statute of the Child and Adolescent, especially articles 6, II and III, and on robust evidence that Discord had not adopted reasonable measures to prevent or reduce risks to children and adolescents.

According to a technical analysis of the case, the ANPD opened an enforcement procedure on Aug. 7, 2026, and then issued the preventive order. That same analysis places the case under the LGPD and the ECA Digital, which expanded the regulator’s authority to require child protection measures and shut down services when it detects noncompliance.

What penalties could follow if Discord does not comply?

The case could lead to warnings, substantial fines, daily fines and, ultimately, service suspension in Brazil if violations are confirmed. Different reports place the fines at up to 10% of revenue in Brazil, with a cap of 50 million reais per violation, according to the technical analysis cited in the case.

PPC Land said that if the company does not prove compliance within the deadline, the case can move to the ANPD’s board for additional measures. O Globo added that the regulator is also considering a possible court request for a full suspension of the service in Brazil if noncompliance continues.

What did the ANPD find on Discord?

A leaked technical note reported by Metrópoles says Discord’s automated moderation and alert system failed to properly classify a critical event involving a teenage girl. The document also points to the absence of robust mechanisms to detect and interrupt risky situations involving minors.

International coverage, including Reuters, Bloomberg and Folha de S.Paulo, links the decision to the death of a 13-year-old girl, who allegedly was encouraged by other users to self-harm and die by suicide in streams carried out through the platform. The ANPD frames the case as an enforcement precedent on child protection under the ECA Digital.

How did Discord respond?

The company’s official position, as reported by O Globo, was that the ANPD’s action was premature. Discord also rejected some government claims about the platform’s moderation capabilities and said it is cooperating with authorities.

Baker McKenzie also noted that the ANPD had already been regulating transparency obligations for digital service providers under the ECA Digital, including the publication and submission of reports on child and adolescent protection online. Data Privacy Brasil said this is the first time the ANPD has explicitly used those strengthened powers against a major global platform, marking a shift in how the agency is acting.