ANJL advises betting sites not to redirect their websites to the federal government's page.
The National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) instructed its members not to comply with the notification from the Ministry of Justice that orders the redirection of traffic from the platforms to the website brasilsembets.gov.br. The redirection was supposed to take effect from 0:01 next Tuesday (6). The entity considers the measure absurd, electioneering and illegal.
The notification was sent to companies authorized by the Ministry of Finance before the enactment of Provisional Measure No. 1.394 of 2026. It covers all websites, domains, and internet applications that offer fixed-odds betting.
According to ANJL, the request is a way for the federal government to use private domains to promote its institutional communication. The organization argues that the measure confuses basic concepts of public and private law and exceeds the limits of administrative action by imposing an obligation on private economic agents that is not foreseen in the Provisional Measure. The notification from the Ministry of Justice, in turn, cites Article 23 of the Provisional Measure as its basis.
“The very logic of the measure is contradictory: the federal government regulated the market, established rigorous requirements for authorization, charged grants of R$ 30 million, in addition to taxes, and legally recognized the activity. It is therefore inconsistent to treat regularly authorized companies as if they were instruments of official communication from the Executive branch. The Public Administration is subject to the principle of legality and cannot create, through administrative act, an obligation that is not provided for by law or by a regulatory norm that supports it,” stated the president of ANJL, Plínio Lemos Jorge.
What the notification requires
According to the document, the redirection must be implemented by the companies that own the domains themselves, using their cloud infrastructure, application servers, and DNS management. The Ministry of Justice also requested the disabling of subdomains, IP addresses, and APIs used by mobile, computer, and smart TV applications linked to the brands, in order to completely prevent access to the services.
The notification outlines sanctions for companies, their controlling shareholders, and legal representatives in case of non-compliance. Subsidiarily, it provides for compulsory blocking via the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) and the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br).
"Within the limits of the law"
“This is not about defending irresponsible advertising or questioning legitimate prevention policies. It is about demanding that public policies be implemented within the limits of the law, with technical basis and respect for legal certainty,” argued Lemos Jorge.
According to ANJL, combating problems associated with gambling should occur through oversight, prevention, consumer protection, and effectively confronting illegal operators. The organization rejects the creation of obligations without a legal basis and the use of regularly authorized companies as vehicles for an institutional government campaign.
