Brazil’s Anatel blocks additional illegal sites taking tally above 5,200
This is now the third list of domains sent by the ministry of finance’s Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) to Anatel, which has been tasked with taking down and blocking these sites in Brazil.
The first list of blocked operators sent on 11 October contained 2,040 sites including notable names such as Boylesports and Tabcorp, before a second list issued on 31 October added 1,400 more domains.
Those included have both applied for a betting licence by the regulator’s October deadline and been active in the market before licence applications were made.
This third list brings the total number of blocked sites up to 5,200 ahead of Brazil’s legal market launch on 1 January 2025.
The measure is part of a government crackdown on illegal and unlicensed gambling operators as the industry faces very serious backlash from various government officials and the private sector.
The blocking order has been sent out to around 20,000 telecoms operators that provide internet coverage in Brazil. Anatel is responsible for monitoring and ensuring the blocking is being carried out “effectively and as quickly as possible”, it said in a statement today (20 November).
Only 100 operators and 223 brands have been approved by the SPA to continue doing business before the legal market launches. All other domains are now considered illegal and at risk of being blocked.
The list of approved operators has been called out by various companies that were originally not included and was subsequently updated on 21 October.
What else is being done to protect players in Brazil?
Alongside the site blocking, the Brazil government is taking other measures in order to protect players from gambling harms with the legal market just weeks away.
After a two-day hearing at the Federal Supreme Court (STF) last week, the court upheld Minister Luis Fux’s emergency measure to ban betting on social welfare as well as gambling ads that target minors.
Those measures were expected to be implemented on 1 January 2025, but the court’s ruling means they have been adopted immediately.
Earlier this week, Brazil’s National Consumer Secretariat (Senacon) called for a ban on all marketing including betting bonuses, issuing a preliminary order requesting the measure to be passed as soon as possible.
Growing pressure on the betting sector in Brazil
The introduction of new measures has come amid rising concerns over the impacts of betting on Brazil’s population.
The STF hearing was called after the National Confederation of Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism, the third biggest trade union in Brazil, called for Brazil’s betting laws to be deemed unconstitutional.
The order to ban betting using social welfare came after the Central Bank of Brazil revealed that 20% of funds from its Bolsa Família programme distributed in August were spent on online gambling.
That measure has received support from key members and bodies in the industry, including the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL), which labelled the course of action as “positive and necessary”.