Discord disabled video calls and screen sharing for users in Brazil as it complied with an order from the country's National Data Protection Agency, or ANPD. Audio calls, direct messages and other services remained available.
The ANPD ordered the suspension on August 12 and gave the US-based communications company until Monday night to comply. The regulator said Discord had not implemented reasonable safeguards for children and cited evidence that livestreaming had repeatedly been used in connection with violence, harassment and encouragement of self-harm or suicide.
Discord co-founder Stanislav Vishnevskiy said in a company blog post that the platform was following the directive and working with the agency. He said the company wanted to restore the affected services quickly while making Discord safer for teenagers.
The regulatory action followed the death of a 13-year-old girl in a small city in west-central Brazil. Authorities allege that participants in an online broadcast first pressed her to kill an animal and, when she did not, encouraged her to take her own life. An official with the Justice Ministry's Ciberlab intelligence unit said the episode lasted about 45 minutes. Five teenagers and one adult were arrested in connection with the case.
Those allegations remain part of a criminal investigation. Discord said it removed the invitation-only group linked to the case. Vishnevskiy also said the alleged abuse campaign extended across multiple online platforms, not only Discord. The company's statement did not alter its obligation to implement the ANPD order.
Discord had initially expressed disappointment with the directive and disputed the regulator's characterization of its service. Its later compliance temporarily removed the visual and broadcast functions nationwide rather than restricting only the accused group. The company says it has more than 90 million daily active users globally, although the supplied report did not give a figure for Brazil.
The case unfolded as Brazil strengthened protections for minors online. Recent requirements cited in the report include linking accounts belonging to users younger than 16 with parental accounts and verifying age. The country has also used court and regulatory orders in wider disputes over platform responsibility.
The immediate measure was limited in scope: Brazilian users could still communicate by text and audio, but could not share screens or make video calls. No timetable for restoration was announced, and access depended on further work between Discord and the regulator. The ANPD's decision and Discord's response leave two processes continuing in parallel — an investigation into the girl's death and regulatory work over what safeguards would be sufficient before the suspended features return.
