— Brazil’s ECA Digital took effect on March 17 and was regulated by presidential decree on March 18, forcing platforms to implement age verification within 90 days
— Infinite scrolling, autoplay, and behavioral ad targeting are now banned for users under 18 on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and all platforms operating in Brazil
— Parents of child influencers must obtain court authorization to monetize content, and platforms face fines of up to R$50 million ($8.6 million) for violations
Brazil’s digital child protection law is now in force, and it rewrites the rules for every social media platform, gaming company, and app store operating in the country. The ECA Digital — formally Law 15,211/2025 — took effect on March 17 and was regulated the following day when President Lula signed three implementing decrees that give the legislation teeth. The Rio Times, the Latin American financial news outlet, breaks down what changes for platforms, parents, and the country’s booming child influencer economy.
What Brazil’s ECA Digital Bans
The law targets the design features that keep young users glued to screens. Infinite scrolling — the endless feed used by TikTok and Instagram — is now prohibited for accounts belonging to minors because the ECA Digital bans platforms from hiding natural stopping points. Autoplay of unsolicited content, a standard YouTube feature, is also banned for under-18 users.
Platforms can no longer send excessive push notifications to minors, offer rewards for time spent online, or use behavioral profiling to target advertising at children and adolescents. The law explicitly classifies these as manipulative design practices. Violations carry fines of up to 10% of a company’s Brazilian revenue, capped at R$50 million ($8.6 million) per infraction, with potential suspension from the market.
Age Verification and Parental Controls
Self-declared age — the checkbox that asks users to confirm they are over 13 or 18 — is no longer sufficient. Platforms, app stores, and operating systems must implement verified age-checking mechanisms, with the national data protection authority ANPD overseeing compliance. Children under 16 can only maintain social media accounts if linked to a parent or legal guardian.
Sites hosting adult content must either offer a separate version without pornographic material or block access until age is verified. AI-generated content with sexually explicit imagery involving minors is now explicitly classified as pornography under the law. Platforms have 90 days from March 18 to comply.
Child Influencers Need Court Approval
One of the most consequential provisions targets Brazil’s multibillion-real child influencer industry. Parents of minors who regularly appear in sponsored or monetized content must now obtain judicial authorization — the same requirement that has long applied to child actors in television and advertising. If platforms detect monetized content featuring minors without court approval, they must remove it immediately.
The regulation was sparked by influencer Felipe Bressanim, known as Felca, whose viral videos in August 2025 exposed the systematic sexualization of children on social media. His campaign triggered the congressional push that produced the legislation within months.
Brazil Joins a Global Wave
The ECA Digital positions Brazil alongside Australia, France, and Spain in a global crackdown on children’s unregulated digital access. But Brazil’s approach goes further than most by targeting platform design rather than simply imposing age cutoffs. The government has also committed R$100 million ($17 million) through its FINEP innovation agency to develop AI-based tools for digital child safety.
A new National Center for Child and Adolescent Protection, operated by the Federal Police, will centralize reports of digital crimes against minors received from platforms. Brazil has previously clashed with tech companies over content moderation, most notably when Australia set the global precedent with its under-16 ban in late 2024. Whether the ANPD — a relatively young agency with limited resources — can effectively police compliance across every platform in Latin America’s largest digital market will be the true test of whether Brazil’s ambitious law delivers on its promise.