In brief
- On 28 October 2026 Maputo hosted the XIV Conference of the Forum of Presidents of the Supreme Courts of Portuguese-speaking Countries and Territories.
- The president of Brazil's STJ, Luis Felipe Salomão, presented the Estatuto Digital da Criança e do Adolescente and called for international judicial cooperation.
- CEA Digital Law sees lusophone judicial cooperation as a bridge between Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and Europe.
On 28 October 2026 in Maputo, Mozambique, the presidents of the supreme courts of Portuguese-speaking countries and territories addressed violence against and trafficking of children, including a strand on the digital environment. As reported by Brazil’s Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ), it matters because protecting children online can no longer be handled within a single jurisdiction.
What was discussed in Maputo
The event was the XIV Conferência do Fórum dos Presidentes dos Supremos Tribunais de Justiça dos Países e Territórios de Língua Portuguesa, hosted by the Tribunal Supremo de Moçambique under the theme «Promoção e Proteção Integral dos Direitos da Criança: Um Compromisso do Sistema Judicial». It aimed to strengthen institutional cooperation and find faster, more effective ways to investigate crimes against children and protect victims.
The president of the Tribunal Supremo de Moçambique and of the forum, Adelino Manuel Muchanga, argued that children must be recognised as active holders of rights. He identified child-friendly hearings, training for judges and international cooperation as key. The president of Portugal’s Supremo Tribunal de Justiça, João Cura Mariano, also took part.
The Brazilian experience
The STJ president, Justice Luis Felipe Salomão, explained the changes in Brazil’s legal framework. He stressed that the Estatuto Digital da Criança e do Adolescente requires preventive measures from the design stage of services, with reliable age verification, parental supervision and duties to respond to rights violations. He also cited court decisions on reporting channels, the protection of girls and parental supervision.
Salomão said Brazil’s experience could help other countries, with due regard for their particular circumstances. He added that one dimension of the problem cannot be tackled by any jurisdiction alone, given platforms’ cross-border operations and the speed at which content circulates.
Our view at CEA Digital Law
At the Euro-American Committee of Digital Law - CEA Digital Law, we welcome the fact that supreme courts are putting this issue on a common agenda. Judges apply these rules to real cases, and their dialogue can generate shared criteria ahead of legislation.
The comparison with Europe is instructive. Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (the Digital Services Act) also places child-protection duties on platforms, but through risk management and administrative oversight. The Brazilian model, as Salomão describes it, emphasises preventive design and age verification. Both rest on the idea that responsibility begins with how a service is built.
We suggest three lines of work for Latin America and the Caribbean and for lusophone Africa:
- Exchange case law and good practice on reporting channels and parental supervision, with translation and open access.
- Create swift channels of judicial cooperation to request information from platforms operating across several territories.
- Balance age verification against data protection and children’s privacy, an open question that deserves common criteria.
It remains to be seen how this commitment will become concrete instruments. We stand ready to contribute comparative analysis across Europe, Latin America and Africa.
Sources
- Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ) — STJ debate proteção à infância com supremos tribunais de países de língua portuguesa
- Lei nº 15.211/2025 — Estatuto Digital da Criança e do Adolescente (Planalto)
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