Brazil fines TikTok $30m and sues Discord over child safety

Brazil has escalated its crackdown on tech platforms over child safety, fining TikTok's owner ByteDance nearly $30 million and suing Discord for 500 million reais (about $97 million). The actions come amid a broader regulatory push by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's government and the Supreme Court to protect minors online Source: AP News.

TikTok fine

Brazil's National Data Protection Agency (ANPD) imposed a 153.7 million reais fine on ByteDance on Tuesday, its largest penalty since 2020, for breaching data privacy laws across logged-in and guest sessions Source: SCMP. The regulator found TikTok processed children's data without valid legal basis or adequate safeguards, potentially affecting at least 8 million children Source: Al Jazeera. The company must delete illegally collected data, implement a compliance plan, and apply stricter privacy settings to under-16 accounts Source: Euronews. ByteDance has 10 days to appeal Source: AP News.

Discord lawsuit

The government filed a federal lawsuit against Discord seeking damages for alleged collective psychological harm, following a July suicide case of a 13-year-old girl linked to the platform Source: AP News. The lawsuit demands stronger parental controls, law enforcement cooperation, and automated content detection, with a daily fine of 500,000 reais if non-compliant Source: CNA. Discord called the lawsuit "disproportionate" and said it does not reflect its safety approach Source: CNA.

Regulatory context

These actions follow the ANPD's earlier order for Discord to suspend livestreams, which Discord has appealed Source: The Next Web. Brazil has previously blocked X for 40 days in 2024, and a recent law requires platforms to link under-16 accounts to parents Source: Euronews. The moves reflect a global trend, with similar efforts in Australia, Canada, and Indonesia Source: AP News.