Brazil implements new digital protections and investigative tools for child safety

Brazil has implemented significant legislative updates to the Statute of the Child and Adolescent (ECA) to address digital safety and criminal investigation.

The Digital Statute of the Child and Adolescent (Law No. 15.211/25), effective March 17, 2026, establishes a legal framework for protecting minors in online environments. This includes social media, games, and video platforms. The law mandates protection by design, requiring providers to implement age verification, default privacy settings, parental supervision tools, and restrictions on loot boxes and targeted advertising. It also requires the removal of content involving child sexual exploitation and the submission of transparency reports.

Additionally, Law No. 15.487, enacted on August 6, 2026, formalizes the practice of the ‘virtual patrol’. This allows law enforcement to use specialized software to identify and collect files from public digital environments related to sexual violence against children. While this investigative technique was previously used and validated by the Superior Court of Justice, the new law provides an explicit legal basis for its use in criminal prosecution.