Brazil's ANPD tightens controls on Discord

Brazil’s ANPD ordered Discord to suspend all live broadcasts in the country and, separately, halted the use of facial recognition to track student attendance in Paraná’s state public school network. The measures rely on the LGPD and the Digital ECA, and they come with new rules for transparency reports and incident notifications.

What happened with Discord?

On August 12, 2026, the ANPD’s Superintendence of Oversight issued a precautionary order requiring Discord to suspend the Go Live feature and any equivalent video broadcasting or sharing tools across Brazil. The company had three business days to show it was complying with the order nationwide.

According to the agency’s official statement, the suspension will remain in place until the platform proves it has implemented effective technical, security and governance measures to protect children and adolescents. The feature may only return with prior and express authorization from the ANPD.

The agency said the decision was based on robust evidence that the platform failed to adopt reasonable measures to prevent and mitigate risks of access, exposure, recommendation or facilitation of contact with content related to self-harm and suicide involving minors. In that context, the ANPD also said it may impose sanctions under the LGPD and the Digital ECA, with fines of up to R$ 50 million for each irregularity, in addition to warnings and other measures provided for in the rules.

What is the scope of the Digital ECA case?

The case relies on Article 6, item III of the Digital ECA, which requires platforms to prevent and mitigate the risk that minors will be exposed to content that induces, encourages, incites or assists self-harm and suicide. JOTA reported that the ANPD explicitly based the suspension of live features on that provision, while Folha de S.Paulo noted that the authority to oversee Discord exists, but the extent of sanctioning powers under the Digital ECA remains disputed.

G1 said the Digital ECA broadened the ANPD’s oversight over social networks and child protection, and that this decision became one of the first landmark cases in which the agency combined its role as a data authority with online child protection functions. CNN Brasil, meanwhile, warned that the ANPD’s inspection and sanctioning framework is still structured mainly around the LGPD, which raises challenges for fully applying the Digital ECA in sanctioning proceedings.

Data Privacy Brasil backed the measure and argued that the suspension of Go Live and equivalent video features should remain in force until reasonable measures are shown to have been adopted from the design stage through operation. In a technical note, the organization described the case as part of an ANPD trend toward using broad preventive-corrective measures against platforms that do not demonstrate adequate risk management for children and adolescents.

What changed in transparency reports?

On August 11, 2026, the ANPD issued Decision Order CD/ANPD No. 122/2026, which sets requirements for the semiannual transparency reports required under the Digital ECA from internet application providers aimed at children and adolescents, or likely to be accessed by them, provided they have more than 1 million users in that age group in Brazil.

Trench Rossi recommended sending a copy of the report to the ANPD when it is published. Baker McKenzie, for its part, said the obligation creates a new scale-based regulatory threshold for digital platforms.

What happened with facial recognition in Paraná?

In August 2026, the ANPD ordered the immediate suspension of facial recognition for recording student attendance in Paraná’s state public school network. The biometric processing was halted until further notice, and the state education department was given 10 business days to prove compliance with the measure.

Data Privacy Brasil said the order was issued by the Superintendence of Oversight through Decision Order No. 2/2026/SFI. Brasil de Fato added that the decision responds to a public civil action filed by Paraná’s Public Prosecutor’s Office in 2025, based on possible LGPD violations, and that the measure bans use of the technology for attendance recording in all institutions in the state network.

Tech Policy Press described the ruling as paradigmatic and said it marks a turning point in children’s data protection by opening the door to addressing systemic risks in data processing within social policy and welfare programs.

What other recent rules strengthened ANPD oversight?

In recent months, the ANPD has consolidated regulatory foundations that expand its enforcement capacity. Resolution CD/ANPD No. 1/2021, later updated by Resolution CD/ANPD No. 4/2023, established the Oversight and Sanctioning Proceedings Regulation based on the LGPD. Later, Resolution CD/ANPD No. 15/2024 set the format and deadlines for notifying security incidents, with an initial notice due within three business days and a later follow-up.

In 2025, Resolution CD/ANPD No. 30/2025 approved the Priority Topics Map for 2026 and 2027, adding artificial intelligence and automated decisions as a strategic oversight focus. Resolution CD/ANPD No. 31/2025 approved the Regulatory Agenda for 2025 and 2026, setting out fronts tied to data processing in AI and automated decisions.

Canaltech reported that, with the agency’s transformation into a regulator in 2025 and the expansion of its mandate through the Digital ECA, the ANPD is strengthening its structure to oversee AI, biometrics and child protection. Also in August 2026, Technical Cooperation Agreement No. 04/2026 was signed between the ANPD and the National Water and Basic Sanitation Agency, and Ordinance GABPR/ANPD No. 553 appointed the institutional representatives responsible for carrying it out.

For incidents, NextGuard said that personal data breach notifications to the ANPD must follow the procedure set out in Resolution CD/ANPD No. 15/2024, including details of the incident and mitigation measures, which reinforces compliance obligations for controllers and processors.