The Ministry of Justice and Public Security is preparing to monitor whether state lotteries in nine states in Brazil are following the rules of the Provisional Measure (MP) of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) that banned the operation of bets in Brazil.
The subject will be addressed in an ordinance, which does not yet have a ready text. Among the states that must have their lotteries inspected are:
Rio de Janeiro;
Paraná;
Paraíba;
Minas Gerais;
Maranhão; and
São Paulo.
According to the government, requests have already been sent to block 5,209 betting sites through the actions of Anatel and the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee.
Anatel activated a network of more than 21 thousand internet providers throughout the national territory to effect the immediate takedown of domains
In addition, there was a notification for the removal, by October 6, of 186 applications available in the Apple and Google stores.
The report also detailed measures in relation to advertising and activities on social networks and digital platforms between the 27th and 29th of September:
Facebook and Instagram: the removal of 300 Facebook pages and 90 Instagram profiles was requested.
Telegram: monitoring actions reached more than one million members and users of illegal betting channels, groups and profiles.
Other technology platforms: eight major platforms (Google, Meta, YouTube, X, Telegram, TikTok, Kwai and Discord) were notified by the Digital Rights Secretariat to remove irregular advertisements within ten days.
Government announces ban on betting in Brazil 3 years after regulating betting companies — Photo: Jornal Nacional/ Reproduction
🔎 On the eve of the first round of elections, President Lula, who is running for re-election, announced a total ban on fixed-odd betting in the country, known as bets. The ban also includes online games and virtual casinos in the country, such as "Jogo do Tigrinho".
🔎 Lula also sent a bill to the National Congress that establishes penalties for anyone who explores, operates or advertises betting and virtual casinos. When taking the measures, the PT member mentioned family debt and the addiction of gamblers to gambling.
"Now, all bets become illegal. No one can offer the game. This [the fight] is being done with mechanisms from both the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets and the Ministry of Justice, through Cyberlab, using technological tools. As the offer of the game is done in the virtual environment, we have a series of mechanisms that identify these sites", stated the national secretary of security, Chico Lucas.
Financial investigation
The government also initiated administrative proceedings against betting companies caught in irregularities. The measure stems from 63 records sent by the Prizes and Betting Secretariat.
At the same time, the Central Bank was called to track the payment chain.
The resources and assets that will be taken from illegal bets will be returned to the National Public Security Fund.
The federal government's strategy seeks to stifle the illegal gambling ecosystem on two simultaneous fronts:
the direct combat against criminal activity on the internet; and
the interruption of the dissemination and propagation of these platforms among the Brazilian population.
Since last Friday, betting sites have been banned from receiving new deposits. Users will only be able to redeem their account balances, a deadline that ends at 11:59 pm on October 5th.
The following day, October 6th, all betting sites and applications will definitively go offline. Between the 7th and 8th of October, the companies will calculate the remaining balance of each bettor (linked to the CPF) and send this data to the banks. Finally, from October 9th, financial institutions will begin returning these amounts in full to their respective owners.
The government warned that banned platforms do not offer any guarantee of receiving prizes or refunds. And they highlighted that they found abusive practices, such as misleading advertisements that treated gambling as an investment and mechanisms that induced bettors to spend more and more money.
"Today in Brazil, this guarantee does not exist. It is a warning and it is important that he [the bettor] has this information, because it is this consumer who, through this decision, will be able to protect his assets and his health", highlighted the national consumer secretary, Ricardo Morishita.
