Following the Digital ECA taking effect on March 17, the Brazilian government issued Decree #12,880/2026 this Wednesday, March 18, regulating the new legal landmark for the protection of children and adolescents in the digital environment. Below are the key provisions:

• Defining the concepts of content, products, or services deemed “inappropriate or unsuitable” and “prohibited” for children and adolescents, along with complementary rules to restrict minors' access to such content, products, or services;

• Establishing supplementary regulations to prevent excessive, problematic, or compulsive use of digital products and services by minors, which includes identifying practices considered as mechanisms that encourage such usage, such as:

  • hiding natural stopping points;

  • automatically playing new content without solicitation;

  • offering rewards tied to usage time; and

  • displaying excessive notifications.

• Regulating providers of products or services that generate content or interact with users through natural language instructions, including language models, conversational agents, and similar interfaces;

• Establishing complementary rules for the adoption of age verification mechanisms. The Brazilian Data Protection Authority (ANPD) will define the implementation stages for age verification, setting monitoring priorities based on the risk level;

• Setting rules for the monetization or promotion of content featuring minors' images, including the requirement for judicial authorization;

• Creating a National Notification Screening Center, linked to the Federal Police, tasked with centralizing reports of content containing evidence of criminal offenses or infractions related to the exploitation, sexual abuse, kidnapping, or grooming of children and adolescents; and

• Defining additional procedures for handling reports of rights violations against children and adolescents submitted by the victim, their legal representatives, the Brazilian Prosecutor's Office, law enforcement authorities, or civil society organizations dedicated to defending the rights of children and adolescents.

In addition to this decree, the federal government issued two others focused on reorganizing the structures and staffing of the ANPD and the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.

We continue to monitor developments related to the Digital ECA and the regulatory measures that will guide its practical implementation. Our team is available to assist companies in interpreting the new rules, conducting impact assessments, and developing customized compliance strategies for their business models.

For further information, please contact us at info@lickslegal.com. We will gladly assist you.