Buenos Aires regulates cell phones in schools before betting
Of the entire Buenos Aires legislative package regarding betting and minors, the first measure to become law does not affect the platforms themselves. Following ratification of the Senate's amendments, the Chamber of Deputies of the province of Buenos Aires gave final approval to legislation establishing rules for the use of screens and mobile phones in primary and secondary schools, explicitly citing the prevention of underage problem gambling as one of its core rationales.
Authored by Deputy Martín Rozas of Unión y Libertad, the bill targets students aged 6 to 17 across both public and private schools. Following its enactment, mobile phones will only be permitted in the classroom for educational purposes with prior explicit authorization from the teacher in charge. The legislation also mandates the development of protocols, guidelines for the educational community, and ongoing monitoring to evaluate and adjust its implementation—the crucial factor that will determine whether the law succeeds or remains merely symbolic.
During the session, Rozas addressed the balance sought by the bill. "We know very well that technology is a necessary tool for the future and that it is essential for students to know how to manage it, but also that screen overexposure is harmful to adolescents," he said. During prior debate, he had pointed to problem gambling as one of the key issues driving the bill forward.
The actual scope of this measure warrants careful assessment. The law governs device usage during school hours—a window when adolescents are already supervised by adults—rather than platform access throughout the rest of the day, which is when betting actually occurs. Its contribution lies elsewhere: in raising awareness about the risks, and in the provincial government establishing an institutional stance on screen exposure prior to regulating the underlying activity of concern.
This inversion of priorities is the key political takeaway. The school restrictions were enacted while the comprehensive bill to regulate and prevent online betting remains under review in the Legislature. That bill was referred to committee in mid-October following a presentation by the head of the IPLyC, who revealed that the illegal circuit accounts for 80 percent of the province's online gambling. The province ended up regulating classroom screens before tackling mobile platforms, largely because the former faces far less industry pushback than the latter.
In parallel, other initiatives directly targeting the channel are moving forward. Proposals currently under discussion include mandatory biometric checks for identity verification on iGaming sites, restrictions on advertising targeting minors across both mainstream media and social networks, a ban on unregulated financial intermediaries, and mental health campaigns within schools. During the debate, different political blocs agreed on the need to complement school restrictions with a comprehensive prevention framework—precisely what is still missing.
Since early October, the Legislature of the province of Buenos Aires has been debating a comprehensive framework for the prevention and regulation of online betting sponsored by deputies Facundo Tignanelli and Micaela Olivetto. The bill proposes creating a specialized prosecutor's office for illegal betting, adding stricter user identification requirements, and overhauling advertising rules. The Instituto Provincial de Lotería y Casinos is the body that oversees authorized gambling in the jurisdiction and presented the assessment underpinning this debate to the relevant committee.
Tags: Argentina, Buenos Aires, Problem gambling, Minors