Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has intensified criticism of the country’s online betting boom, directly associating the sector’s rapid expansion with regulatory failures under the previous government.
He also reinforces the administration’s position that stronger oversight is now necessary.
Lula argued that while traditional forms of gambling such as casinos and the jogo do bicho, a lottery-style game widely popular in Brazil, have long faced restrictions, online betting platforms were allowed to expand widely without effective controls in recent years.
According to the President, this regulatory gap enabled betting products to become deeply embedded in everyday digital life.
He had recently said at a different event that online betting is “everywhere” and increasingly exposed to households and younger users.
The comments place responsibility for the sector’s unchecked growth on the Bolsonaro administration, during which online betting remained legal but largely unregulated following its authorization in 2018.
Formal regulation was only approved in 2023, after Lula returned to office, establishing licensing rules, taxation and responsible gambling obligations for operators.
Since then, the Ministry of Finance’s Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA) has led the implementation of the regulatory framework, which entered into force in January.
The Government has repeatedly argued that stronger controls are needed not only to organize the market, but also to address social costs associated with gambling, including problem gambling and excessive consumer spending.
Despite the new framework, enforcement challenges remain significant. Authorities estimate that there are 14 illegal platforms for every legal one in Brazil, limiting the effectiveness of consumer protection measures and reducing tax collection.
Last year, Lula approved a gradual betting tax increase up to 3% to fund social security
