President Lula has shifted firmly into “early campaign mode” as the Senate weighs new protections for social media platforms. Leonardo Biazzi and Elisa Marcante report on how the outstanding regulations of the Bets regime are being reframed through a broader lens of ‘civic duties’… political bargaining is expected in an election year.
The PT government has threatened to take a ‘tougher direction’ on gambling as a new round of finger-wagging begins in Brazilian politics over the governance of an unsettled online market.
On Monday (9 February), speaking at a healthcare and education summit in São Paulo, President Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva once again delivered a speech critical of the ‘Bets’ regulatory regime for online betting.
Though launched under his tenure in 2025, President Lula proclaims that he has been one of the strongest opponents of online gambling, maintaining that he holds “very serious concerns” about the sector.
In early campaign mode, as he prepares to fight for a fourth presidential term, Lula told audiences: “We will take a very serious action against the ‘bets’. They are taking money from the poor people of this country.”
Lula makes ‘BBB’ stance clear
The rhetoric aligns with the PT government’s populist slogan of “BBB Tax – billionaires, banks and bets” — a message that will be relayed to voters ahead of Brazil’s General Election on 4 October.
There is no ambiguity in the President’s stance, with the industry now firmly in his sights. Lula was critical of all gambling activities, stating: “I learned to be against gambling. I was against casinos and the illegal numbers game because the church taught me that I had to oppose gambling.
“What is happening today is that the casino has gone inside people’s homes. It is in the living room, in your children’s hands.”
The President washing his party’s hands of gambling liabilities will surprise no one. Yet anxieties remain among licensees, who now face fresh curveballs over how Brazil intends to settle the outstanding affairs of its still-maturing online gambling regime.
Political interventions continued this week as Brasília signalled that gambling will once again sit at the centre of a broader cultural and regulatory debate.
Brazil ponders social media restrictions
On the same day as Lula’s remarks, Bloomberg reported that the federal government is preparing a presidential decree aimed at strengthening child protections in online environments.
Citing a draft text, Bloomberg outlined proposals that would require app stores and digital platforms to implement robust age-verification systems to prevent minors from accessing gambling, pornography and other age-restricted content.
The mandate could see Brazil become the first South American nation to introduce specific digital access restrictions extending beyond simple self-declared age checks. The Senate is expected to examine proposals for a government-backed verification framework, alongside data-protection safeguards designed to address privacy concerns.
The timing is significant. By linking betting to wider concerns around youth exposure and digital harm, the PT government appears to be placing gambling within a broader civic and social-protection narrative.
Brazil now joins a growing list of nations weighing stricter controls on social media platforms. Australia has already implemented a ban on under-16 access to certain platforms, while Spain and several European states are examining similar restrictions.
President Lula has long been critical of Silicon Valley technology firms, and several PT figures have openly attacked X (formerly Twitter), accusing the platform of deliberately spreading misinformation in Brazil.
Trade-off on gambling ads
Elsewhere, developments are accelerating in Brasília. In 2026, the Senate and Chamber of Deputies must settle the final terms of a specific bill addressing gambling advertising — an issue that has rapidly escalated from regulatory fine-tuning to the possibility of a nationwide prohibition.
Proceedings have already gathered pace. The Senate’s Science and Technology Committee (CCT) has approved a bill providing for a nationwide ban on betting advertising and sponsorships, backed by rapporteur Damares Alves (Republicanos-DF).
The proposal amends the framework of Law No. 14,790/2023 and now advances to the Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) before a potential plenary vote.
Industry stakeholders, including the Instituto Brasileiro de Jogo Responsável (IBJR) trade body, have warned that a blanket ban risks destabilising the regulated market just as it attempts to mature.
Yet the gambling advertising decree remains in its infancy, with no political bloc in Congress or the Senate openly declaring which bill they intend to support.
Keeping cards close to the chest is an anticipated tactic in an election year. The governance of gambling divides opinion not only between the PT government and the Bolsonaro family-led Liberal Party, but within party ranks themselves.
As such, the Bets regime and the future of gambling advertising are set to become yet again tools of political horse-trading as October’s general election looms and ministers weighing which camps to bargain with and what concessions may be extracted in return.