The Santa Fe Lottery has called for new national regulations granting ENACOM, Argentina's National Communications Entity, the technical authority to suspend and block illegal gambling platforms.
Javier Signorini, representative of the lottery's legal department, said the provincial government under Governor Maximiliano Pullaro decided to lead efforts against illegal gambling following detection of widespread minor participation.
He said: "In a window of only three months, 40,000 young people were playing on one of the platforms that we had reported. Everything suggests that we may have a son, nephew or friend who is accessing these online casinos."
Criminal complaints filed by the lottery confirmed the existence of illegal online casinos accessible through mobile devices and social media.
Signorini added: "They are gaming and casino platforms that operate online and with very easy access for minors. We filed criminal complaints, but the problem is that this crime advances with very modern technological tools and legislation has not yet found the way to stop it."
While courts have issued favorable rulings and sentences, technical limitations prevent enforcement. According to him, today ENACOM cannot take sites down even with a court order.
He added: "We have already reached that stage and they respond that they can only communicate to internet service providers the removal of those sites," Signorini explained. The lottery seeks regulation providing ENACOM with the necessary tools to suspend, block and remove illegal pages."
Signorini outlined how to identify legal platforms by their web addresses. "For them to be legal, platforms must end in .bet.ar. If they end in .com, .net or any other denomination, they are illegal," he said. According to him, legal betting operations pay taxes directed to social assistance and implement tools preventing minor access and pathological consumption, features absent from illegal gambling.
Santa Fe Lottery launched the "No Garpa" campaign visible on public roads to raise awareness about prohibitions on minor betting.
Signorini stated: "We must not believe that it does not happen at home, because reality shows that today there is a large percentage of minors betting. The invitation is to discuss how serious it can be for children to be betting."
Good to know: Santa Fe legislator Natalia Armas Belavi has proposed a bill aimed at establishing additional restrictions for those registered as child support debtors
