“This stance is adopted in several countries with longer experience in regulating the online betting sector, such as the United Kingdom, Spain and Portugal, which impose positive obligations on companies similar to those proposed here, demonstrating that shared responsibility is the most appropriate way to balance economic freedom with the protection of the vulnerable and the preservation of fundamental rights,” says the document.
In another section, the Public Defender's Office criticized the federal government's proposal to cut benefits such as Bolsa Família for people who are using it to place bets online. “The DPU expresses concern and is frankly against the search for solutions that involve some type of punishment for the most vulnerable, such as that proposed in Bill 3703/2024, which goes so far as to provide for the loss of the social benefit if it is used to place fixed-odds bets.” The aforementioned bill is from federal deputy Tião Medeiros.
The statement was presented in an action proposed by the National Confederation of Commerce. However, there is another ADI, proposed by the Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, which equates online betting with lottery activities — which can only be carried out by the federal government — and requests that the Betting Law be declared unconstitutional in its entirety.
Arrest warrant
The two actions, at least for now, are stalled in the STF, with no forecast of when they will return to the agenda. Meanwhile, the CPI das Bets continues to move forward in the Senate. On Tuesday, the 30th, the chairwoman of the committee, Soraya Thornicke, ordered the arrest of businessman Daniel Pardim Tavares Lima, representative of Peach Blossom River Technology, who allegedly lied in his testimony.
The DPU also strongly advocated that companies that offer online bets offer protection and treatment systems to bettors. One of the points defended by the entity, for example, is that the use of credit cards to place bets should not be permitted — in addition to the restriction on advertising.
Source: Veja
