Brazil Seeks $97 Million From App Discord Over User Protections

Brazil’s government is seeking 500 million reais ($97.1 million) in damages from chat app Discord Inc. in a local lawsuit, while also demanding that the platform strengthen protections for children and women and comply with Brazilian law.

The Justice Ministry said Wednesday that Discord continues to have shortcomings in its age-verification mechanisms and safeguards that pose serious risks to users, including those that culminated in the death of a teenager last July. Earlier this month, Brazilian regulators ordered the chat app to halt livestreaming in the country following the user’s death.

Related: Meta Agrees to Pay Up to $16.7 Billion in Social Media Case

“There are no minimum safeguards required under Brazilian law being adopted by the platform,” Attorney General Jorge Messias told reporters in Brasilia. “The absence of this protective framework has led to situations of an absolutely criminal nature involving children, teenagers, women and animals.”

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been pushing for stronger online protection for children and teenagers as he seeks a fourth term in October’s presidential election. In March, Brazil implemented a law requiring companies and digital platforms to restrict minors’ access to illegal or potentially harmful content. Earlier this week, the country fined TikTok’s owner ByteDance Co Ltd. over its handling of children’s and teenagers’ personal data.

Related: Nuclear Verdicts Go Boom, Increase 40.7% in 2025

The legal action against the US-based social media platform is underway in a federal court in Distrito Federal, where Brazil’s capital is located. Messias said the government spent two weeks trying to reach an agreement with the platform, but the company refused to commit to complying with legal requirements.

The lawsuit asks the court to order Discord to implement a series of safety measures, including strengthening parental controls, expanding cooperation with Brazilian authorities and deploying systems capable of detecting and preventing situations that pose risks to children and teenagers. It also calls for mechanisms to detect, assess and moderate content depicting animal abuse, violence, mutilation and cruelty.

A Discord spokesperson said in a statement that the lawsuit is “disproportionate and does not accurately reflect Discord’s approach to safety and its compliance with Brazilian law.” The platform added that it “consistently engaged in good faith with the Brazilian Attorney General’s Office,” and that it also put forward a detailed proposal to strengthen safety on through technical changes, while also investing in online safety in Brazil.

Top photo: The Discord logo on a smartphone arranged in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, on Friday, Nov. 18, 2022. Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter Inc. is sending some users searching for alternative platforms – with mixed success. Bloomberg.