Brazil took an important step with regard to the protection of children and adolescents in the digital environment with the decree that creates the Digital Statute of Children and Adolescents. The text, signed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, creates rules that oblige networks and content providers to control access for minors under 16, and to ensure that they do not receive content inappropriate for their age.
This is a necessary measure, and should serve as a guide for other similar legislation, such as that currently being negotiated in the European Union. Last year alone, Brazil registered almost 90 thousand reports of cybercrimes: more than 60% of them warned of child sexual abuse and exploitation.
In Portugal, reports of this type of crime have reached records in recent years. According to the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), violations against children and adolescents in the digital environment have increased in Portugal since the Covid-19 Pandemic. At home, kids became more exposed to the internet and, soon, more susceptible to digital violations.
The data in Portugal has been alarming in its growth. While in 2024 3,973 complaints were received, in 2025 this number jumped to 4,497, an increase of 13.16% compared to the previous year. Of these, 1059 were forwarded by the Attorney General’s Office to open an investigation.
One of the fastest growing models of digital rape in Portugal is the so-called sextortion, where intimate images are used as currency for extortion. In the last two years alone, the Civil Police opened 1,400 investigations into sexual extortion. Of the total number of complaints received, around 5% concern content involving sexual abuse of minors housed in Portugal.
It is important to remember that, already this year, the Brazilian Parliament approved, in first reading, a bill that requires the consent of parents or guardians for children between 13 and 16 years of age to have access to social networks. The project still has a long way to go within the political environment for the rules to come into effect. In the European Parliament, limitations are also still under broad debate.
Although the EU has a series of regulations governing the digital space, limitations on children and adolescents have not yet advanced in the bloc. There are ongoing investigations into the impact that social networks such as TikTok, Facebook and Instagram have on the mental health of children and adolescents, but so far, there have been no legislative advances.
As long as the European Parliament, or the Brazilian Parliament itself, does not put into practice stricter legislation regarding the issue, children and adolescents will continue to be exposed in a worrying way. And, without a doubt, the creation of the Digital Statute of Children and Adolescents in Brazil can be a good example to be followed. Children and adolescents in Brazil, and throughout the European Union, will be grateful for this care in the near future.
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