Brazil’s Ministry of Justice has notified Apple and Google after identifying betting applications available through their app stores that allegedly fail to comply with Brazilian law.
The notification includes apps without effective age verification and operators lacking the necessary federal licence.
The measure is not a sanction but forms part of an ongoing investigation led by the Ministry’s National Consumer Secretariat (Senacon) and National Secretariat for Digital Rights.
According to the Government, the companies were first contacted in April after officials found numerous betting and lottery applications available for download despite allegedly operating without authorization from the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA).
Authorities also said several apps did not include adequate mechanisms to prevent access by users under the age of 18.
The Ministry requested details on the companies’ review procedures, their policies for betting applications and the systems used to verify whether developers comply with Brazilian gambling regulations.
Following a second review conducted on 29 June, officials concluded that both app stores continued to offer applications that allegedly breached the country’s legal requirements, prompting a fresh round of notifications.
The latest requests ask Apple and Google to explain what measures they have adopted to ensure minors cannot access age-restricted gambling content through their platforms.
The investigation also references Brazil’s Digital Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA Digital), legislation that came into force in March 2026 to strengthen online protections for children and teenagers.
The law, an updated version of Brazil’s long-standing Statute of the Child and Adolescent, introduced new obligations for social media platforms, gaming services and mobile applications, including stronger age verification requirements for restricted content.
Neither Apple nor Google had publicly commented on the latest notifications at the time of publication.
In Brazil, betting websites and mobile applications must obtain authorization from the Ministry of Finance’s Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA) before they can legally operate in the country
