Brazil orders Discord to suspend livestreaming feature over teen's death

Brazil's data protection authority (ANPD) has ordered Discord to suspend its livestreaming feature after a teenage girl was allegedly encouraged to take her own life in a broadcast on the platform.

The messaging service allows people to create and join groups based on their interests, with users able to enter voice or video calls in real time through Discord's "Go Live" feature.

The investigation by the ANPD began on 7 August after the death of a 13-year-old girl, who was reportedly pressured to end her life by others in the Discord server - or group - she was in.

Discord told the BBC it was "thoughtfully reviewing" the ANPD's order and is "committed to user safety".

"Groups or individuals who promote or encourage violence have no place on Discord," a spokesperson said.

"We swiftly investigated and shut down the private, invite-only server involved shortly after its creation and continue to cooperate with law enforcement in its investigation."

According to Reuters, external, the ANPD said it found Discord lacks ‌real-time ⁠access to livestream content, which prevents automated violation detection.

The site, which can be accessed on desktop or as a mobile app, has over 200 million monthly active users, and is popular with gamers.

Discord's spokesperson said in its investigation, evidence was found that the criminal activity "was coordinated on other platforms before the Discord server was created" as well as continuing "after the individuals involved were banned from Discord".

Five teenagers have reportedly been arrested in connection to the teenage girl's death.

Discord now has three days to comply with the suspension and can appeal the decision within 10 business days.

The platform faces potential fines of ​up to 50m reais ($9.67m) per ⁠violation.

The ANPD said the suspension will remain in place until Discord proves it has implemented "adequate protective measures for minors", which may include age verification checks.

In August 2024, the social media platform X was banned in Brazil after failing to pay existing fines and to meet a deadline set by a Supreme Court judge to name a new legal representative in the country.