The Brazilian Parliamentary Gambling Investigation Committee (CPI) rapporteur, Senator Soraya Thronicke, urges political figures to support a new bill that restricts consumer access to online gambling.
Thronicke expressed her concerns at the gambling industry CPI meeting, which was established in November last year as concerns about the impact of gambling were growing, and Brazil will legally open its online gambling market on January 1.
Thronicke calls on Congress to enact new laws to restrict public access to online gambling sites.
She also criticized the long delay between the initial passage of legislation in 2018 and its final approval in December 2023. Many attribute Brazil's ongoing concerns about gambling addiction to the proliferation of illegal sites during that period.
"We need to make [accessing online gambling sites] increasingly difficult," Thronicke said at the hearing. "We are here to make up for past mistakes. We need legislation to minimize the risks and damages of this activity.
"Now we are here learning and changing tires while the car is still moving, because this is a new world for all of us."
Former gambling addict calls for CPI to limit advertising
At Tuesday's hearing, businessman and former gambling addict André Rolim discussed the challenges he faced with gambling addiction and called for stricter advertising regulations and gambling time restrictions.
However, Rolim insisted that these restrictions could not curb his gambling behavior during addiction episodes. After going to a rehabilitation clinic, he eventually overcame these issues.
"I believe no policy could stop me," Rolim said. "When an addict becomes active, he will do whatever it takes (to gamble). He will cheat, he will find his way out.
"Thinking we can limit gambling among the wealthy is an illusion."
Brazil has recently taken a series of measures to limit advertising.
One of the bills, PL 3563/2024, proposed last year, aims to ban fixed-odds sports betting advertising within Brazil. The bill would also prohibit sports sponsorships.
The bill's rapporteur, Senator Damares Alves, reiterated her desire to ban advertising at Tuesday's CPI meeting.
"When we treat alcoholics, we don't let them near alcohol," Alves explained. "How can we treat gambling addicts if we are constantly offering them products?
"Living in this country, it's impossible not to be bombarded by gambling."
Brazilian online gambling addicts are particularly prone to addiction
Before comprehensive regulation, Brazil's longstanding gray market led many to claim that at some point, Brazil had the most gambling sites in the world, making it easier to access than other markets.
Rolim shared his concerns about this easy access and compared it to the currently illegal land-based gambling, while also explaining that accessing online gambling was even more difficult in the past.
"You had to go out (for physical gambling), you had to schedule, you had to tell your wife you were leaving home. There were a series of barriers," Rolim said. "(For online gambling) I told my wife I was going to the balcony to watch a movie, but I was actually playing games.
"In the past, becoming an [online] gambler was much more difficult. I had to have an international card and was subject to a series of restrictions that did not allow me to bet 24 hours a day."
In Brazil, companies holding federal licenses must comply with strict KYC requirements, including mandatory use of facial recognition technology for identity verification. Gamblers must also register using a valid bank account opened with a payment institution approved by the Central Bank of Brazil.
