Lula Vows "no Love to Gambling" In Brazil's Election Year

President Lula has shifted firmly into "early project mode" as the Senate weighs brand-new defenses for social media platforms. Leonardo Biazzi and Elisa Marcante report on how the exceptional guidelines of the Bets routine are being reframed through a broader lens of 'civic duties'... political bargaining is expected in an election year.
The PT federal government has actually threatened to take a 'harder direction' on gambling as a brand-new round of finger-wagging starts in Brazilian politics over the governance of an unclear online market.
On Monday (9 February), speaking at a health care and education top in São Paulo, President Inácio 'Lula' da Silva as soon as again talked crucial of the 'Bets' regulatory routine for online betting.
Though launched under his tenure in 2025, President Lula proclaims that he has actually been among the greatest opponents of online gambling, preserving that he holds "very major concerns" about the sector.
In early project mode, as he prepares to battle for a fourth presidential term, Lula informed audiences: "We will take a very severe action against the 'bets'. They are taking money from the poor individuals of this nation."
Lula makes 'BBB' position clear
The aligns with the PT government's populist motto of "BBB Tax - billionaires, banks and bets" - a message that will be relayed to citizens ahead of Brazil's General Election on 4 October.
There is no ambiguity in the President's position, with the market now strongly in his sights. Lula was crucial of all gambling activities, stating: "I learned to be against gambling. I was versus casinos and the prohibited numbers game since the church taught me that I needed to oppose gaming.
"What is taking place today is that the gambling establishment has actually gone inside people's homes. It remains in the living-room, in your kids's hands."
The President cleaning his celebration's hands of betting liabilities will shock nobody. Yet anxieties remain among licensees, who now deal with fresh curveballs over how Brazil means to settle the outstanding affairs of its still-maturing online betting regime.
Political interventions continued this week as Brasília signalled that betting will once again sit at the centre of a wider cultural and regulative argument.
Brazil ponders social media restrictions
On the same day as Lula's remarks, Bloomberg reported that the federal government is preparing a governmental decree focused on strengthening child securities in online environments.
Citing a draft text, Bloomberg laid out 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 material.
The required might see Brazil end up being the very first South American country to introduce particular digital access restrictions extending beyond simple self-declared age checks. The Senate is anticipated to take a look at proposals for a government-backed verification structure, along with data-protection safeguards created to attend to personal privacy concerns.
The timing is substantial. By connecting wagering to larger concerns around youth exposure and digital harm, the PT federal government seems putting gaming within a broader civic and social-protection story.
Brazil now signs up with a growing list of nations weighing more stringent controls on social networks platforms. Australia has currently carried out a ban on under-16 access to specific platforms, while Spain and several European states are taking a look at similar limitations.
President Lula has long been vital of Silicon Valley technology firms, and a number of PT figures have actually honestly attacked X (formerly Twitter), implicating the platform of intentionally spreading false information in Brazil.
Trade-off on gambling advertisements
Elsewhere, advancements are accelerating in Brasília. In 2026, the Senate and Chamber of Deputies must settle the last regards to a specific expense attending to gaming marketing - a concern that has actually quickly intensified from regulative fine-tuning to the possibility of an across the country restriction.
Proceedings have actually currently collected pace. The Senate's Science and Technology Committee (CCT) has approved a costs attending to an across the country restriction on wagering marketing and sponsorships, backed by rapporteur Damares Alves (Republicanos-DF).
The proposal modifies the structure of Law No. 14,790/ 2023 and now advances to the Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) before a prospective plenary vote.
Industry stakeholders, consisting of the Instituto Brasileiro de Jogo Responsável (IBJR) trade body, have cautioned that a blanket ban dangers destabilising the controlled market just as it tries to grow.
Yet the gaming marketing decree stays in its infancy, without any political bloc in Congress or the Senate freely stating which bill they intend to support.
Keeping cards close to the chest is an anticipated tactic in an election year. The governance of betting divides opinion not just in between the PT government and the Bolsonaro family-led Liberal Party, however within party ranks themselves.