Betting market: Justice Luiz Fux suspends advertising aimed at children and adolescents and requests measures against the use of social funds in betting

Federal Supreme Court Justice Luiz Fux granted a preliminary injunction requesting the immediate enforcement of an ordinance issued by the Ministry of Finance to regulate the fixed-odds betting market in Brazil (SPA/MF Ordinance No. 1,231/2024) regarding the ban on advertising aimed at children and adolescents.

Luiz Fux also ordered that the Ministry of Finance immediately implement measures to prevent the use of social welfare funds in fixed-odds betting, for example, from the Bolsa Família Program and the Continuous Provision Benefit, among others.

The ordinance is already in force, but rules providing for monitoring and penalizing non-compliance would only be implemented by the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting as of January 01, 2025. Following this decision, betting operators are now subject to penalties applied by the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting and other authorities that regulate advertising in Brazil (such as the Brazilian Council for Self-Regulation of Advertising – CONAR).

The ruling was issued on November 12, 2024, within the scope of two direct actions for the declaration of unconstitutionality (“ADI”) filed by the National Confederation of Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism (CNC) – ADI 7,721 – and the Solidarity Party – ADI 7,723 – against the full text of Law No. 14,790 (“Sports Betting Law”), due to alleged socioeconomic and health losses caused by the betting market.

After assessing ADI 7,721, Justice Luiz Fux summoned a public hearing, which was held on November 11 and 12, 2024. More than 40 experts from several areas related to the betting market joined the discussion.

Based on discussions at the public hearing, Fux granted a preliminary injunction to avoid a “significant and damaging impact” on the mental health of children and adolescents and family household budgets, particularly beneficiaries of social welfare programs.

According to Fux, this would create a “landscape of evident lack of protection”, which would justify the preliminary injunction to advance the entry into force of SPA/MF Ordinance No. 1,231/2024 and establish additional protective measures against the use of social welfare funds in fixed-odds betting.

The preliminary injunction has entered into force immediately but will still be assessed by the full bench of the Federal Supreme Court, which may approve or revoke the decision.

Demarest’s Dispute Resolution team is monitoring the matter and remains available to provide any further clarifications.