Minister Luiz Fux, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), ordered the Federal Government to create immediate special protection actions to avoid gambling with the use of resources from assistance programs, such as Bolsa Família and the Continuous Payment Benefit (BPC).
In Tuesday’s decision (12), the minister also determined that standards set out in an ordinance that prevent advertising by betting houses aimed at children and adolescents must be applied.
These measures on propaganda and publicity are scheduled to come into force on January 1, 2025. The precautionary actions are effective immediately, however, they must still be evaluated by the group of STF ministers.
The STF minister took these decisions after debates in recent days motivated by a Direct Action of Unconstitutionality (ADI), by the National Confederation of Commerce in Goods, Services and Tourism (CNC). This is because the minister is the rapporteur of this action.
The CNC, which questions the Bets Law, claims that there are unconstitutional points in the regulation. Therefore, the Supreme Court held two days of public hearings with federal agencies and civil society entities.
Last Monday (11), government representatives declared that it is too early to analyze the impact of the regulation of online betting, which will officially begin to be applied in January 2025.
Abert argues that betting regulation is already making progress
Meanwhile, the representative of the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (Abert), Gustavo Binenbojm, highlighted that online betting is a reality that cannot be ignored in the country.
According to Abert, government regulation already presents advances, such as the prohibition of any type of misleading advertising.
“No message can induce the bettor to understand the bet as socially attractive, associated with personal success or financial success, beyond the requirement to warn about the risks of financial losses”, stated Binenbojm.
“Law 14,790 is a pragmatic law that represents the political decision of the representatives elected by the Brazilian people not to close their eyes to reality,” he added.
Luiz Fux will be the rapporteur of the ADI of the Attorney General’s Office against the Betting Law
It is worth noting that Luiz Fux will also serve as rapporteur for the direct action of unconstitutionality (ADI 7640) filed by the Attorney General’s Office – PGR at the Federal Supreme Court (STF) against Laws No. 14,790/2023 and No. 13,756/2018 and against the ordinances issued by the Ministry of Treasury.
Thus, the STF’s Initial Processing Coordination forwarded ADI 7640 to Minister Luiz Fux for prevention purposes due to the processes related to ADI 7721 filed by the National Confederation of Commerce in Goods, Services and Tourism – CNC) and ADI 7723 filed by the Party Solidarity.
