The Brazilian government says it has cracked down on more than 53 YouTube accounts and 25 channels which have been breaching gambling promotion guidelines.
YouTube has updated its rules on gambling advertising, which now state that creators are prohibited from making references or directing viewers to illegal operators.
This includes URLs, links in images or text and verbal mentions. YouTube has also stated that advertising must only be linked to websites with the regulated bet.br domain.
The Brazilian government said the National Secretariat for Sports Betting and Economic Development of Sports (Snaede), part of the Ministry of Sports, found over 53 accounts and 25 channels which were breaching the updated guidelines.
The government said the videos promoted bets with “false promises of profit,” which is also prohibited, to audiences of over 100,000 for each broadcast.
The channels were reported to the Ministries of Justice and the Federal Police, as well as being discussed in a public hearing at the Supreme Federal Court.
The Ministry of Justice subsequently opened an investigation which led to the crackdown.
“This is a victory for the Ministry of Sports, Snaede and the courage of Minister André Fufuca, who took this complaint forward,” said Giovanni Rocco, the Snaede secretary.
“This result represents progress in protecting the most vulnerable families, who end up being deceived by scammers disguised as digital influencers.”
