Brazil Suspends Discord Live Streams Following Teen Suicide

Brazil's National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) has ordered Discord to suspend its live streaming functionality after a 13 year old girl committed suicide during a broadcast. The agency gave the platform three days to comply, citing a failure to adopt reasonable measures to protect children and adolescents. The incident occurred in a small city in Mato Grosso do Sul, where the girl was allegedly incited to self harm and kill herself during a 45 minute live stream. Police have arrested five teenagers in connection with the death and saved another girl who was reportedly about to commit suicide live. Investigators have described the case as involving threats, blackmail, and a scheme of digital slavery where minors groom other minors to commit barbaric acts.

Discord admitted in a document sent to the Ministry of Justice that its automated protection systems failed to identify the risk in time. The company stated that the live stream began at 2:20 AM on July 22, but the server was not removed until 4:15 AM, which was 25 minutes after the Civil Police issued an alert of imminent risk. Discord explained that its artificial intelligence assigned the event a risk score of 0.12, while the threshold for automated identification was 0.95. The company stated it is reexamining its criteria and sensitivity models to improve detection. While Discord expressed disappointment with the suspension and rejected the agency's characterization of the platform, it confirmed it has removed the invite only group involved and is cooperating with law enforcement.