This Tuesday, Brazil’s National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) fined TikTok more than €25 million for “irregularities in the processing of data of children and adolescents”.
In addition to this fine of 153.7 million reais, the institution ordered ByteDance Brasil, the Brazilian subsidiary of the China-based platform, to “delete the data collected in an irregular manner”.
The ANPD said it identified the processing of minor users’ data “without legal basis”, in violation of the rules laid out by the Data Protection Law for “this more vulnerable audience”.
It estimated that these “shortcomings in data protection” were observed even in the mode of accessing TikTok content without logging in via a platform profile.
“The mechanisms adopted by the company were not enough to prevent, from the outset, the improper processing of personal data of children and adolescents,” the agency detailed in a statement.
According to the ANPD, TikTok has committed to “set up a compliance plan to improve the protection of children and adolescents”.
The platform will have to notably “automatically apply more restrictive privacy settings to accounts of people under 16 years old (…), strengthen parental supervision systems and implement stricter content filters”.
TikTok did not respond immediately to press requests.
On August 12, the ANPD had ordered the suspension of live streaming on Discord of the death of a 13-year-old girl who had allegedly been encouraged to commit suicide on the platform.
The agency told AFP that a challenge filed by Discord on Monday against this suspension was under review.
Brazil has taken a firm stance on social networks in recent years.
A recent law obliges platforms to link the accounts of those under 16 to their parents’ accounts, and to verify users’ ages.
In 2024, X was blocked for 40 days by a Supreme Court decision, until Elon Musk’s network complied with court orders to remove accounts accused of disinformation.
