Brazil’s data protection authority sets a September deadline for major social media platforms to publish transparency reports on safeguarding children, as new laws demand greater accountability and safety measures online.
Brazil’s data protection authority has set 17 September as the deadline for major social media platforms to publish their first half-yearly transparency reports on how they protect children and adolescents. The rule applies to services with more than 1 million users under 18 in Brazil, according to a directive issued by the National Data Protection Authority and published in the official gazette. The requirement is tied to the country’s Digital Child and Adolescent Statute, known as ECA Digital, which came into force on 17 March 2026. Brazil’s press has also noted that the law acquired the nickname “Lei Felca” after public debate over the adultisation of minors online.
The new reporting duty is intended to force platforms to show, in concrete terms, how they handle complaints, moderate content and identify accounts likely to be run by children or teenagers. Under the law, companies must describe the channels available for reporting abuse, the procedures used to investigate those reports and the total number of notifications received during the period. They must also break down how many accounts or posts were moderated, by type of violation, and explain the systems used to deal with unlawful conduct.
The reports must go further than moderation statistics. Companies are also expected to set out the technical measures they use to protect personal data and privacy, including how they verify parental or guardian consent. The documents must explain how firms assess risks to the safety and health of younger users, which gives regulators and the public a clearer view of whether platforms are matching their safety claims with operational practice.
For the first cycle, the reporting period runs from 1 January to 30 June 2026. But because the law only became effective in March, companies without earlier data may limit that first filing to the period from March to June. After that, the schedule becomes fixed to the calendar: first-half reports are due by 1 August and second-half reports by 1 February of the following year. The ANPD has also recommended that firms send copies of the reports to the agency when they are published.
The authority’s broader role is to oversee the law while Brazil works towards a separate autonomous body for the area. That gives the ANPD a central position in the early enforcement phase of ECA Digital, which Reuters and Brazilian legal and education outlets have described as a wide-ranging framework for age verification, parental controls, content moderation and limits on the use of children’s data for advertising. The reporting rules are meant to give regulators more detail on how the market is responding, and to shape future rule-making around child safety online.
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