Brazilian regulators ordered chat app Discord Inc to halt livestreaming in the South American country after the death of a teenager, part of a push to step up protections for young users of popular social media platforms.
Brazil’s National Data Protection Authority, or ANPD, said on Aug 12 that livestreaming and similar video-sharing features must remain suspended until Discord adopts measures to protect children and adolescents, including "reasonable” policies to reduce the risks of minors accessing dangerous content that promotes violence or self-harm.
The regulator gave the San Francisco-based company three days to comply.
The order came after Brazilian authorities said a 13-year-old girl’s suicide had been broadcast on Discord and that the material remained available on the platform before it was removed. Discord disputes that account, saying the server involved was shut down before the suicide could be livestreamed on its platform.
Authorities are investigating allegations that other users encouraged the girl to harm herself during the broadcast. Brazilian First Lady Rosangela da Silva had called on the Justice Ministry and Attorney General’s office to immediately take down the platform during a public event last week.
In its decision, ANPD said it wouldn’t totally block access to Discord, but only to its "Go Live” feature used for livestreaming on private servers.
"Our goal is to reduce the risk of serious or difficult-to-repair harm to which children and adolescents are being exposed,” the ANPD said in its statement.
Asked for comment, a Discord spokesperson stressed that "groups or individuals who promote or encourage violence have no place” on its platform, according to a statement sent to Bloomberg.
"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 the company spokesperson, who added that its own probe found evidence that the criminal activity was previously coordinated on other platforms and continued there after the individuals involved were banned from Discord.
Ahead of his reelection bid later this year, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has pushed to bolster protections for minors online. In March, Brazil implemented a law requiring companies and platforms to restrict youth access to content that is illegal or considered harmful.
Launched in 2015 as a chat app for gamers, Discord has expanded into a mainstream platform for online communication. It has 90 million daily active users, according to its website.
The platform has faced scrutiny in the US over its child safety practises from both individual lawsuits and state attorneys general, who allege the company hasn’t done enough to protect young users.
Unlike social media sites, Discord’s messages and videos are posted on individual servers and not to a public feed, making the platform more complicated to moderate. But critics say there are broader fixes Discord can implement to make it safer.
Discord is now rolling out age-assurance technology, including in Brazil, that it hopes will better moderate the experience kids have on the platform.
Discord confidentially filed for an initial public offering in January. – Bloomberg
Those suffering from problems can reach out to the Mental Health Psychosocial Support Service at 03-2935 9935 or 014-322 3392; Talian Kasih at 15999 or 019-261 5999 on WhatsApp; Jakim’s (Department of Islamic Development Malaysia) family, social and community care centre at 0111-959 8214 on WhatsApp; and Befrienders Kuala Lumpur at 03-7627 2929 or go to befrienders.org.my/centre-in-malaysia for a full list of numbers nationwide and operating hours, or email sam@befrienders.org.my.
