Brazil Fines TikTok $29.9m Over Child Data Protection Violations

Brazil has fined TikTok 153.7 million reais ($29.9 million) over alleged violations of regulations designed to protect children and teenagers on social media, as authorities intensify scrutiny of major digital platforms.

According to a report by AFP, the move is part of Brazil’s broader crackdown on disinformation and efforts to strengthen online protections for minors, the country requires users under 16 to have their social media accounts linked to those of their parents.

Fabricio Lopes, an enforcement director with Brazil’s data protection agency ANPD, said TikTok had failed to take adequate steps to prevent adolescents from accessing the platform and to protect the data of children and teenagers.

He said the data collected from young users was being used to provide them with targeted advertising.

Lopes described the fine as a strong warning to other social media platforms about the seriousness with which the ANPD is enforcing data protection rules.

The fine comes shortly after TikTok agreed to pay $400 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the US Department of Justice over allegations that the platform collected children’s personal data without parental permission.

The Brazilian regulator has also stepped up enforcement against other digital platforms.

Earlier this month, the ANPD ordered Discord to suspend livestreams and video calls after a teenage girl was allegedly encouraged to take her own life during a broadcast. The agency said an appeal filed by Discord against the suspension was under review.

ANPD director Lorena Giuberti Coutinho said the regulator had also begun proceedings to assess whether 22 social media networks and platforms were complying with a law passed this year to strengthen protections for children and teenagers online.

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She said stronger enforcement action could be expected in the coming months.

Beyond the financial penalty, the ANPD ordered TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to delete data collected in violation of Brazilian regulations.

Coutinho said TikTok had also committed to suspending all advertisements for users who are not logged in.

The ANPD said TikTok had agreed to implement a compliance plan aimed at improving protections for children and adolescents on the platform.

Under the measures, TikTok will be required to automatically apply stricter privacy settings to accounts belonging to users under 16, strengthen parental supervision tools and introduce stricter content filters.

In a statement sent to AFP, TikTok said the fine was based on concerns raised in 2021 and did not take into account measures introduced by the company since then.

The company said it had rolled out more than 50 safety features for teenagers over the past six years, including restrictions on direct messaging for users under 16, limits on recommending their content to strangers and tools allowing parents to impose screen-time restrictions and block accounts.

The ANPD has given TikTok 10 days to appeal the fine.

Brazil has previously taken strong action against social media platforms. In 2024, X was blocked in the country for 40 days after the platform, owned by Elon Musk, failed to comply with Supreme Court orders to remove accounts accused of spreading disinformation.