Brazil orders suspension of Discord livestreams

AFP | Sao Paulo

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Brazil’s data protection agency on Wednesday ordered Discord to suspend livestreams, accusing the messaging platform of failing to protect children and adolescents after a teen girl was allegedly incited to commit suicide.

The platform was given three days to comply with a suspension that was ordered "due to robust evidence that the company failed to adopt reasonable measures" to protect children and teenagers from content encouraging violence, self-harm and suicide, the ANPD agency said in a statement.

Investigators say a 13-year-old girl was encouraged to self-harm and take her own life during a recent Discord stream. Five teenagers have been arrested in connection to the death.

"Live streams have been repeatedly used to facilitate violence, harassment, and the incitement of self-harm and suicide," said the ANPD.

In a statement sent to AFP on Tuesday prior to the decision, Discord said it was "cooperating with authorities in the investigation into this serious case."

Following the recent death, Rosangela da Silva, wife of left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, called for Discord to be shut down and urged "the judiciary to remove this horrible network from the Internet."

Discord claims more than 90 million active daily users worldwide. In 2024, the platform X was blocked for 40 days in Brazil, until the social media network owned by the world's richest man Elon Musk complied with the Supreme Court's orders to remove accounts spreading disinformation.