President Lula says, "if it were up to him," he'd ban online gambling

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After his government finally launched a regulated online gambling industry, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is now having second thoughts, mulling whether he could enact a ban.

Man who helped usher in online gambling says he’d shut it down in an instant

In an interview with a local media outlet in Brazil, as first reported by the Associated Press, President Lula told the publication that he would not hesitate to ban online gambling platforms had the choice rested with him. I am deeply worried about the indebtedness of the Brazilian people. If these platforms cause harm, why don’t we end them? We are discussing this very seriously, he asked rhetorically. However, it is President Lula’s government that helped finally set up the rules around which the gambling industry would be regulated in the country, leading to the 2025 launch of a mass online sports gambling market. The President said that he was hopeful that he could find backing with lawmakers, but did not specify whether he would pursue the matter further. His government, however, has repeatedly warned that it might make a U-turn on online gambling if the negative impact outweighs the benefits. The government has already suggested several measures, including a tax increase, stricter rules around gambling advertisement, and has actively pursued offshore and unregulated gambling companies that continue to target Brazilians without having received the necessary approvals locally.

Industry cautions against blind overregulation

At the same time, the industry has cautioned the government against a ham-fisted approach that would prioritize looking tough on gambling rather than studying the impact of any regulation changes. The industry argues that a ban would drive people offshore. Brazil’s online gambling platforms are said to be generating as much as $4bn annually in revenue, and the sector has been expanding rapidly. Fears over empowering the offshore market by restricting local operators are now overblown, as a recent survey found that more than 50% of iGaming operators in Brazil are actually controlled by unlicensed companies.