Discord has suspended its livestreams in Brazil, citing concerns over child safety failures. The popular communication platform for gamers announced the suspension on Monday, following criticism and an order from Brazil's national agency of data protection.
The decision comes after an underage girl in July was allegedly coerced by other users into committing suicide during a livestream on the platform. Brazil's first lady, Rosângela Lula da Silva, known as Janja, called for the platform to be taken offline in the wake of the incident.
"Livestreams have been repeatedly used to facilitate violence, harassment and the incitement of self-harm and suicide," Brazil's data protection agency said in a statement, citing "robust evidence" that Discord had not sufficiently prevented risks to children and adolescents, including "inducement, incitement, instigation, or assistance to violence, self-harm, and suicide."
Discord stated that groups or individuals who promote violence have no place on its platform and that it is committed to user safety. The company said it has dedicated teams to disrupt violent groups, remove violative content, and take action against bad actors. It also stated it investigated and shut down a private server where individuals involved in criminal activity were believed to have encouraged self-harm before the recent death of the 13-year-old.
The U.S.-based company said it is in conversations with Brazilian officials to find a solution that would allow livestreams to be reestablished for its users in Brazil. "We remain committed to working with public policymakers in Brazil to help create an online experience that is safer for all, on Discord and across the internet," the platform said.
In recent years, Discord has been implicated in investigations worldwide involving extreme violence, threats related to school attacks, distribution of abusive material, grooming and coercion of minors, and the encouragement of self-harm and suicide. Data from Safernet Brazil, a nonprofit defending human rights online, indicated a 54% increase in complaints involving Discord between January and July compared to the same period last year.
Brazil's government has been attempting to regulate internet use by minors, enacting a law earlier this year that requires minors under 16 to link their social media accounts to a legal guardian for supervision. Digital services are also required to implement effective age verification mechanisms beyond self-declaration to protect minors from inappropriate content.
Discord previously postponed a controversial age verification policy in February due to user privacy concerns but later stated it was implementing age assurance measures to comply with Brazilian law. The platform has more than 90 million active daily users globally.