ANJL asks TikTok, X, Google, and Meta to curb illegal gambling
Between 38 and 44 percent of the money wagered in Brazil circulates outside the authorized system. With this figure as a starting point, the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) this week notified TikTok, X, Google, and Meta to demand a comprehensive plan to dismantle the promotion of clandestine operators within their platforms.
The focus of the complaint is not on paid advertisements but on individuals. The entity argues that unlicensed sites rely heavily on influencers and content creators for customer acquisition, who act as a gateway by distributing applications, links, promotional codes, bonuses, and promises of winnings aimed at Brazilian users. This was stated by its president, Plínio Lemos Jorge, when describing the mechanism by which these accounts end up operating as commercial channels for companies that cannot legally advertise.
What the ANJL is asking for is not a one-time cleanup. It demands continuously operating tools that allow for the rapid identification of profiles disseminating operators lacking authorization from the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA), and shorter response times to take down publications, advertising pieces, links, promotional codes, web addresses, and any other resource that drives traffic to unregulated sites.
The most demanding point of the document concerns recidivism. The association suggests deactivating or blocking those who repeatedly use the platforms to promote illegal operators, and accompanying this sanction with barriers that prevent the recreation, reactivation, or substitution of removed profiles. The underlying concern is known to anyone who has tried to moderate this type of content: without this reinforcement, each takedown is resolved with a new account, another page, or another dissemination format, and the activity simply changes direction.
The request concludes with an explicit priority. The ANJL asked the four companies to treat the protection of children and adolescents as a separate chapter within the plan, understanding them as the public most exposed to such advertising.
The ANJL groups betting and lottery operators that hold a federal license in Brazil, a market that has been operating under authorization since January 1, 2025, and whose oversight falls under the SPA. The entity has been deploying a public offensive on several fronts: days ago, it extrajudicially notified a presidential candidate for statements it considers false about the regulated sector, and also complained about its exclusion from the meeting on betting convened at the Palácio do Planalto.
Tags: National Gaming and Lotteries Association, promotion of illegal gambling, gambling influencers, minor protection