After young person's death, Discord rates suicide and self-harm risk among teenagers as low

Discord classified the risk of suicide and self-harm among teenagers as low in its first transparency report under Brazil's Digital Child Statute (ECA Digital), published on Thursday (17).

The document was released approximately one month after the ANPD (National Data Protection Authority) ordered the suspension of live streams on the platform due to failures in protecting users under 18. The measure was taken following the death of a 13-year-old girl.

The assessment contrasts with the agency's conclusion, which stated it had found "robust evidence" that the company had not adopted reasonable measures to prevent violence, self-harm, and suicide. Discord itself later admitted there were indications of risk in the case, but that its internal alert system had not been triggered.

The report covers the period from January to June of this year and makes no mention of the live stream suspension or the ANPD investigation, which occurred afterward.

The classification presented is of residual risk — that is, the level calculated after accounting for the protective measures that, according to the company, were in place. Discord states it evaluated both the likelihood and severity of harm.

No category received a high-risk classification. Child and adolescent safety, harassment and bullying, hate speech, and sexual content were considered moderate risks. Suicide and self-harm, violence, extremism, and deceptive practices were rated as low risk.

The document does not disclose how many cases of each type were identified. It is therefore impossible to know how many incidents were related to suicide, self-harm, or violence, or how those figures support the classifications adopted.

The ANPD's investigation into the company was opened following the teenager's death. According to authorities, she was coerced by members of online communities and died during a live stream on Discord.

The case led to the preventive suspension of video features on August 17. This week, six teenagers were apprehended in a new phase of the operation investigating the case and the activities of groups suspected of approaching, blackmailing, and coercing vulnerable minors.

The groups under investigation, known as "panelas," were composed primarily of teenagers, according to authorities.

Data from SaferNet cited by the ANPD show that reports involving Discord grew by 54% over one year. There were 264 cases from January to July 2025 and 406 so far this year.

**Report records 2.5 million reports**

Discord received 2.55 million reports from Brazilian users in the first half of the year. Of that total, 1.43 million concerned spam and 1.12 million involved other issues.

The document does not break down non-spam reports by type of violation. It is therefore impossible to know how many were related to self-harm, suicide, sexual exploitation, or violence.

The company notes that the records do not necessarily correspond to confirmed violations and that the same content, account, or server may receive multiple reports.

Discord says it carried out 417,210 interventions, took action against 301,187 accounts, and permanently deactivated another 129,562. It also removed 12,390 servers. The figures overlap and, according to the company, should not be added together.

Among teenagers, 7,550 account deletions and 22,927 warnings or temporary restrictions were recorded.

The platform also sent 15,637 reports related to child sexual abuse material to NCMEC, the American center combating child exploitation. There were 12,820 cases involving photos or videos and 2,817 relating to written content.

The report states, however, that the specific procedure for notifying Brazilian authorities required by the Digital ECA was still being established.

Majority did not complete age verification

Discord requested that 2.36 million users undergo age verification. Only 674,858, or 28.5%, completed the procedure.

The text does not clarify what happened to the other 1.69 million users, nor how many accounts belonging to children under 13 were identified. Brazilian regulations limit data use and discourage facial recognition in age verification.

There is also a discrepancy in the table: Discord records 650,996 approved users, but approvals via facial estimation and document verification add up to 680,941. The document does not explain whether the same person can appear in both categories.

The next edition of the report is scheduled for February 1, 2027.