Brazil orders Discord to halt livestreaming over child safety

Brazil’s telecommunications regulator, Anatel, has ordered Discord to suspend all livestreaming services in the country within 48 hours, citing violations of national child protection regulations.

The move follows an investigation into the platform’s compliance with Brazil’s Statute of the Child and Adolescent, which mandates stricter safeguards for minors. Anatel stated that Discord failed to implement adequate measures to prevent the dissemination of harmful or exploitative content targeting children.

The order does not affect Discord’s core messaging or voice-chat functions, only its livestreaming feature. Users attempting to access live broadcasts will receive a notification that the service is unavailable in Brazil. The platform has been given a deadline to comply by suspending the feature entirely.

Discord has not publicly commented on the directive. The company’s global policies already include age-verification tools and content moderation systems, though Brazil’s regulator deemed these insufficient under local law.

The decision underscores growing regulatory scrutiny of digital platforms in Brazil, particularly those with significant youth user bases. Similar actions have been taken against other social media services in the past year, reflecting heightened enforcement of child safety laws.