Brazil’s government filed a lawsuit against Discord on August 26 seeking about $97 million (5 billion Brazilian reais) in collective moral damages. The suit accuses Discord of failing to protect children from harmful content on its platform, following the livestreamed suicide of a 13-year-old girl in Mato Grosso do Sul on July 22, 2026 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
The girl had been pressured by others during the livestream to first kill an animal and then herself. Authorities arrested four teenagers and one adult connected to the incident, including a 14-year-old [1, 4, 6].
Brazil’s National Data Protection Agency (ANPD) took action earlier this month, ordering Discord to suspend livestreaming services on August 12. Discord agreed on August 17 to suspend livestream functions in Brazil and pledged to make the platform safer for young users. However, Brazilian officials maintain Discord's age verification and protection measures are insufficient and pose serious risks to children and adolescents [1, 2, 4, 6, 5].
The lawsuit demands Discord implement more effective protections for children, adolescents, and women in its digital environment. A government statement said, "The lawsuit seeks to compel the Discord platform to adopt effective measures to protect children, adolescents, and women in the digital environment" [1, 4]. Discord co-founder Stanislav Vishnevskiy said the company is "努力让平台对青少年更加安全" (working to make the platform safer for youth) [2]. The Discord statement on the suit said they believe “there are better ways” and aim to find solutions to strengthen safety while allowing Brazilian users access [4].
Discord reportedly has over 90 million daily active users globally, making safety enforcement a large challenge [2, 4, 6]. Authorities have increased regulatory pressure on social media firms in Brazil. On August 25, ANPD fined TikTok around $30 million for failing to implement child safety measures. The agency is conducting compliance checks of 22 platforms to enforce 2026 child and youth internet protection laws. Links between accounts of users under 16 and their parents’ accounts have also been mandated [2, 4, 6]. ANPD director Cutino said, "我认为未来几个月我们将看到更有力的执法行动" (I think we will see more vigorous enforcement actions in the coming months) [4].
Brazil’s lawsuit filed in Brasília follows months of negotiations with Discord that did not produce sufficient changes to protect at-risk users on the platform [2, 3, 4, 6, 5]. The next steps will focus on legal proceedings and possible court orders to force Discord to comply with stricter child safety practices.
