Brazil fines TikTok owner over mishandling of children's data

Published on 25/08/2026 - 18:52 GMT+2

Brazil's National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) said on Tuesday that it had imposed a fine of 153.7 million reais (25.57 million euros) on ByteDance, the company that owns the social network TikTok, for "irregularities in the processing of data belonging to children and teenagers".

In addition to the fine, the Chinese platform is required to delete data collected irregularly and, according to the statement, "ByteDance has also committed to implementing a compliance plan to improve the protection of children and teenagers on TikTok".

The platform will have to automatically apply stricter privacy settings to accounts belonging to children under the age of 16, strengthen parental supervision systems and roll out more robust content filters.

The Brazilian supervisory and regulatory authority identified practices by the Chinese company that were not in line with the country's General Data Protection Law (LGPD) in two access modes to the platform, namely in relation to the feed with or without user registration.

The ANPD said it had found that the mechanisms adopted by TikTok "were not sufficient to prevent, from the outset, the improper processing of the personal data of children and teenagers".

The owner of TikTok will have to reinforce parental control systems and introduce stricter content filters.

In the version without user registration, for example, TikTok will have to suspend advertising throughout Brazil, limit the experience to content suitable for all ages and reduce screen time to 12 hours.

In the version without registration, users will also not be able to post or watch live broadcasts.

This month, the ANPD also ordered the popular streaming platform Discord to suspend live streams and video calls after a teenage girl was allegedly encouraged to take her own life during a broadcast.

The agency told AFP that an appeal lodged by Discord on Monday against the suspension is currently being examined.

In recent years, Brazil has adopted a tougher approach to regulating social media platforms.

A recent law requires platforms to link the accounts of users under the age of 16 to their parents' accounts and to verify users' ages.

In 2024, the platform X was blocked for 40 days in Brazil, until the social network owned by the world's richest man, Elon Musk, complied with Supreme Court orders to remove accounts that were spreading disinformation.