Brazil is preparing to enact one of the most comprehensive digital child-protection laws in the world. Known officially as Statute No. 15.211/25, or the Digital ECA, it is set to come into force on March 17, 2026, and will cast a wide net over online service providers.
Its mandate is to shield minors from a spectrum of online harms, including gambling, pornography, cyberbullying, and content promoting self-harm.
The Digital ECA sets out a tough, wide-ranging framework that requires strong age-verification systems, built-in parental control features, and swift processes for removing harmful content.
It also bans age self-declaration outright, forcing platforms to adopt more reliable and auditable methods of verifying users’ ages.
That’s not all; the law goes even further, deliberately targeting gambling content. Loot boxes in games accessible to minors are banned as well, reflecting growing concerns about gambling-like mechanics in youth-oriented games.
Large platforms will also be required to publish transparency reports detailing how they protect underage users. Oversight and enforcement will sit with the Brazilian National Data Protection Authority (ANPD), which has the power to impose heavy penalties on companies that fail to comply.
Brazil is not alone in its legislative awakening. Countries across the world, especially European nations, are also wrestling with similar fears, but their focus has narrowed sharply on one digital force in particular: social media.
In the UK, momentum is building around tougher controls on how young people access and experience social media. The House of Lords has backed a proposal to bar under-16s from social platforms entirely, but the conversation in Westminster is going beyond who should be allowed online to how platforms are designed in the first place.
UK policymakers are now also scrutinizing features like infinite scroll, which critics argue are deliberately engineered to keep users, especially teenagers, hooked for hours.
Lawmakers have linked these design choices to worsening mental health outcomes, increased exposure to harmful content, online radicalization, and declining attention in classrooms.
France has moved decisively from debate to action. Lawmakers have passed legislation banning children under 15 from accessing social media in a bid to curb digital dependence among young people.
The French government frames this as a necessary intervention to protect children from the detrimental effects of excessive screen time and the manipulative power of algorithms. Macron declared that “the emotions of our children and teenagers are not for sale or to be manipulated.”
