The Federal District Court of Justice (TJDFT) has established one of the most significant findings yet in a decision imposing new advertising restrictions on influencer Virginia Fonseca and betting platform Blaze.
Now her posts about travel, family, daily life or any other personal moments remain advertising when there's sponsorship behind the content, adding to the civil lawsuit involving the influencer and Blaze.
The ruling, from Judge Renato Rodovalho Scussel, partially granted an appeal from the District Attorney's Office (MPDFT) in the civil public lawsuit filed against Fonseca and the betting operator.
The judge partially overturned a lower court decision that had denied an urgent injunction request, finding that continued potentially irregular advertising posed a risk of collective harm to consumers.
The MPDFT's suit alleges that Blaze and Fonseca used deceptive and abusive advertising practices to promote sports betting.
According to prosecutors, the campaigns blended commercial content with personal posts, used techniques to encourage spending, highlighted betting's advantages and failed to sufficiently identify sponsored posts.
In his ruling, the judge noted that influencer advertising has a distinct trait: it tends to be woven into the organic content influencers produce for their followers, which raises rather than lowers the duty of transparency.
Native or testimonial advertising doesn't lose its commercial nature simply because it's embedded in personal, family, travel or daily-routine narratives, he said, adding that these formats narrow the perceived distance between influencer and audience, strengthen trust and can lead consumers to miss that they're looking at a sponsored message.
For that reason, he said, identifying advertising as such demands "special rigor."
Non-compliant content must be taken down within 48 hours, under a fine of BR100,000 ($19,600) per infraction, capped initially at BR2m.
The decision also bars Fonseca and Blaze from running campaigns promising guaranteed profits, presenting betting as extra income, an investment, an alternative to employment, a solution to financial difficulties or suggesting there's no risk of loss
