Brazil files $97m lawsuit against Discord over child safety failures

The Brazilian government has filed a lawsuit against the chat platform Discord, seeking millions of dollars in damages over alleged failures to protect children and teenage social media users.

The $97m lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, comes after what the Brazilian government describes as failed negotiations with the company.

The complaint argues that Discord failed to abide by laws designed to protect young social media users.

“The lawsuit seeks to compel the Discord platform to adopt effective measures to protect children, adolescents, and women in the digital environment,” the government said in a statement, calling for compensation for “collective moral damages”.

The company, however, has pushed back, saying the lawsuit is excessively harsh and does not accurately depict its compliance with the country’s laws.

The lawsuit is the latest instance of a social media company facing scrutiny for allegedly exposing young users to harmful content or eroding their mental health through addictive technology products.

Critics say that tech giants have been slow to implement protective measures, despite evidence linking excessive social media use to mental health issues among young people.

In many cases, plaintiffs have argued that social media companies have prioritised user engagement and profit over health and safety concerns.

Tech companies, however, have countered that they should not be held responsible for all the content published on their platforms, nor for how users interact with the software.

In Brazil, scrutiny fell on Discord in July, after a case in the western state of Mato Grosso do Sul captured the public’s attention.

On July 22, a 13-year-old girl was on a livestream when she killed herself after being goaded to do so by a group of her fellow teenagers.

According to the Brazilian Justice Ministry, the teens first pressured her to kill an animal, but after she failed to do so, they started pushing her to take her own life.

Four teenagers and one adult have been arrested in connection with the case.

In the aftermath, Brazil’s National Data Protection Agency (ANPD) ordered Discord to suspend livestream services on August 12. First Lady Rosangela Lula da Silva also called for the site to be taken down.

The messaging platform, which hosts about 90 million active daily users, said that it would stop streaming services and take steps “to make Discord safer for teens”.

But the Brazilian government said that the company “continues to exhibit flaws in its age verification and user protection mechanisms”.