National Expression Committee of the Chamber of Deputies debates new rules for betting advertising.
The federal government this week put into effect new rules for advertising on sports betting websites. From now on, all advertising materials in the sector are required to display one of three warnings defined by the Ministry of Finance: "Gambling makes you lose money," "Gambling can cause addiction," or "Gambling is not an investment."
The measure was debated on the TV Câmara program "Expressão Nacional" with parliamentarians and experts. The debate revealed divergent positions on the scope of the new rules and on what still needs to be done to contain the advance of what health and legislative representatives describe as an epidemic. Carlos Lima, president of the Brazilian Institute for Responsible Gaming (IBJR), an entity that represents some online gaming companies , participated in the debate alongside two federal deputies and a representative of civil society.
Brazil is the fifth largest online gambling market in the world. Research from a business school affiliated with the University of São Paulo (USP) indicated that addiction to digital gambling is already the leading cause of financial disarray among Brazilian families.
Regulated sector or public health problem?
According to Carlos Lima, it's necessary to separate the responsibility of the legalized market from that of the illegal market. He argues that the harmful effects associated with betting come almost entirely from platforms operating outside of regulation. "The ban on betting advertising in Italy didn't solve the problem of compulsive gambling; it increased the illegal market and significantly reduced the revenue these betting companies generate for sports," Lima stated, citing the Italian case as a counterpoint to the proposals to ban advertising currently being debated in Congress.
The president of IBJR acknowledges that legalized platforms need to evolve, but defends self-regulation as a more agile mechanism than legislation. He cited the intervention of the National Council for Advertising Self-Regulation (Conar) during the last World Cup, when betting sites were prevented from suggesting bets and displaying percentages during broadcasts in the voices of journalists. "Look, this might be excessive, Conar investigates, and if it's something, that advertising is taken off the air," Lima explained, describing how the mechanism works.
What do parliamentarians and civil society advocate for?
Congresswoman Flávia Morais (MDB-GO) presented a set of bills addressing mental health, consumer protection, and family income. She advocates for the creation of guidelines and public policies within the SUS (Brazilian Public Health System) for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of gambling addiction; and supports more restrictive measures for advertising in the sector, comparing the model to that adopted with tobacco. "What is the value of a life? And how many lives are we losing?" the congresswoman questioned, refuting arguments focused on tax revenue.
Congressman Tadeu Veneri (PT-PR) argued that the central problem is not gambling itself, but the addiction it generates; and that prohibition alone will not solve the issue. According to Veneri, the massive advertising during sporting events, such as the World Cup, exacerbates addiction by stimulating the desire to win without presenting the real risks. He advocated for continuous educational campaigns as the main tool, comparing this need to the awareness campaigns that led to the reduction of smoking in Brazil.
Lucas Louback, representative of the Bonde platform, which brings together civil society organizations, explained that the bill supported by the movement focuses on restricting advertising, not criminalizing users. According to Louback, the text has more than 80 co-authors in the Chamber of Deputies and about seven senators in the Senate. He described the mechanism by which the platforms capture and retain gamblers: there is a hormonal release that generates momentary pleasure, and the architecture of the websites is designed to gradually amplify this sensation, creating behavioral dependence similar to that of chemical substances.
Platform controls and the limits of oversight.
Lima detailed the control mechanisms already adopted by legalized platforms. According to him, the systems identify patterns of irregular gambling, such as excessive connection time or spending above the user's historical pattern, and can temporarily block access or take action against the gambler. There is also a federal self-exclusion system: users who request registration are automatically blocked on all legal platforms. Beneficiaries of Bolsa Família and other social programs, as well as their families, are prohibited from gambling on regulated platforms.
However, there is a recognized loophole: when a platform decides to block a user for compulsive behavior on its own initiative, without the player's request, this information is not automatically shared with other betting sites. The LGPD (Brazilian General Data Protection Law) creates restrictions on the exchange of data between operators. A user blocked by one platform can migrate to another without the latter being aware of the situation.
Lima further emphasized that 100% of the operators overseen by the Ministry of Finance are companies incorporated in Brazil, required to maintain a compliance area, customer service in Portuguese, and a structure for preventing money laundering; differentiating them from illegal platforms, which are frequently based abroad and outside of any regulatory control.
