Brazilian senator calls for tougher controls on online gambling in parliamentary inquiry
The CPI is expected to propose new rules for player protection and advertising.
Brazil.- Senator Damares Alves (Republicanos-DF) has urged the ongoing Parliamentary Inquiry Commission’s (CPI) enquiry into Brazil’s new online gambling framework to consider tighter controls. Alves criticised currently “unregulated coverage” of gambling on digital and social media and said that legislators should intervene.
She’s calling for tighter time limits on gameplay, identity verification and rules for advertising that uses celebrity endorsements or links to major sporting events. She argued that operators “exploit emotional and psychological manipulation of consumers, in their marketing tactics”.
She said: “You don’t treat an alcoholic by offering them a drink. So how do we help a gambling addict if they’re being bombarded with ads every second of the day?”
The call came after the Parliamentary Inquiry Commission heard personal testimony from businessman André Rolim, a former gambling addict, who spoke of the impact gambling had on his life. Reports describe a sense of shock in the room as Rolim gave an emotive testimony of how his gambling got worse with the emergence of digital platforms providing 24/7 access and how he lost his car and house.
Alves is the rapporteur for Bill 3563/2024, which proposes an outright ban on gambling advertising and sponsorship. Senator Soraya Thronicke, who leads the inquiry, also believes that major reforms are needed to address player protection, advertising standards and financial transparency in the new gambling market.
She recognised that the legislative response to online gambling had been slow. Fixed-odds betting was legalised in 2018, but the regulated market only came into force at the start of this year. Thronicke expressed concern about the ease of access to gambling before the regulated regime began.
“We’re learning and legislating on the go, changing the tyre while the car is already in motion. This is a new and uncharted territory for all of us,” she said.
Moved by Rolim’s account, Thronicke has summoned executives from Playflow Processadora de Pagamentos, Pinbank Brasil and Brax Produção e Publicidade, which are believed to have links with gambling platforms being investigated for activity before the start of the regulated market. She has also recalled lawyer Adélia de Jesus Soares for questioning about alleged cooperation with a foreign business operating illegal gambling.
Meanwhile, the CPI has invited Central Bank president Gabriel Galípolo to appear to explain how the institution monitored financial flows related to gambling before January 1.
Last month, the new Brazilian gambling regulator, the Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas, announced that it would begin work on the creation of a Brazilian gambling self-exclusion scheme as it moves attention to the second phase of its regulatory work following the launch of the online gambling market.
The SPA wants the exclusion system to track people who are prohibited from betting by law, such as athletes and SPA employees, as well as people who self-exclude voluntarily, either from gaming or related advertising. The regulator is seeking input from stakeholders, including gaming operators, banks, local authorities, media and healthcare networks owing to the technical complexities of the project.
