Known for his opposition to legal and regulated gaming, the congressman is now attempting to push online casino games back into the illegal market by introducing a bill that modifies the current laws regulating the sector in Brazil.
The bill aims to ban all forms of online gaming, including casinos, eSports, and virtual betting, while also creating restrictions on advertising and promotion of such activities in physical media.
According to the deputy, the availability of these products in digital formats increases the risk of addiction.
“With apps available right at people’s fingertips, the behavior of compulsive gamblers worries specialists,” he explained.
The proposal establishes that no advertising or promotional content may be carried out in physical media without including an appropriate age classification warning.
In addition, the bill redefines the concept of fixed-odds betting, limiting it to “real events in which, at the time the bet is placed, the bettor already knows how much they can win if their prediction is correct.”
State lotteries
The bill also includes changes to sector regulations, stipulating that advertising and the sale of state or Federal District lotteries in physical media must be restricted to individuals located or residing within the respective state’s boundaries.
The proposal further prohibits multi-jurisdictional operations of state and district lotteries, as well as the commercialization of lottery products. It bans any association, participation, agreement, partnership, representation, contract, or subcontract — whether paid or unpaid — directly between states or between them and the Federal District, or through intermediaries, aimed at operating lotteries, including foreign ones, via physical channels.
Source: GMB
