Brazil’s Finance Ministry removed 937 influencer pages between January 2025 and June 2026 for violating rules on online betting advertising, according to a response to freedom-of-information requests reported by Folha de S.Paulo. The figures include 803 profiles that promoted unauthorized betting platforms and 134 that breached legal requirements for the sector.
The enforcement action covers social-media pages and other online channels. Illegal betting operators often rely on local influencers to attract customers, promoting their services on open networks such as Instagram and through messaging apps including WhatsApp and Telegram.
This is based on single-source reporting from Folha de S.Paulo.
Legal Market, Illegal Operators
Brazil allows only licensed operators to advertise sports betting and online casino games. Each operator must pay a R$30 million license fee—approximately US$5.4 million at recent exchange rates—in addition to taxes and other charges.
Advertising rules require clear identification of paid promotions, transparency about the operator, safeguards for minors and warnings about the risk of gambling addiction. The Finance Ministry said its measures had effectively removed or restricted content and services that violated the applicable regulations.
The government has taken down more than 50,000 web pages since 2025 in cooperation with Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel). But illegal operators can quickly reappear under new web addresses. The betting industry estimates that launching an unauthorized platform can cost as little as R$10,000, or roughly US$1,800.
The ministry also removed 243 illegal betting apps in 2026, after Google and Apple began allowing gambling-app distribution through their main stores.
Investigations and Fines
Brazil’s Secretariat of Prizes and Betting, the Finance Ministry unit responsible for regulation, opened 86 monitoring investigations into influencer activity and advertising in electronic media. Five of those cases became administrative proceedings, producing three fines totaling nearly R$4 million, about US$720,000.
The first fine, issued in 2025, targeted ZeroUmBet, an online betting platform formerly associated with influencer Deolane Bezerra. The company advertised on its website and social-media accounts that it had ministry authorization, although it was operating under a court order and had not completed the government’s registration process or paid the R$30 million license fee.
Authorities initially set the fine at R$1.19 million, approximately US$215,000, based on projected revenue. After an appeal, the amount was cut in half to R$596,304, or about US$107,000, after officials recognized mitigating factors including the company’s lack of previous violations and what they described as limited harm to bettors. ZeroUmBet said the error was unintentional and resulted from an incorrect technical interpretation of the court order.
A second fine of R$919,626.73—roughly US$166,000—is under appeal. The ministry did not identify the target. The latest penalty, R$2.3 million, or approximately US$414,000, was imposed on Blaze over advertisements on a YouTube channel featuring teenagers. The fine can still be appealed. Foggo Entertainment, the group that controls Blaze, declined to comment on ongoing legal proceedings, while influencer João Caetano’s defense said it was seeking clarification in court.
Protection of Minors
The Secretariat also opened 102 investigations into 48 operators over issues including self-exclusion systems, underage participation, gambling addiction, user registration and player-protection mechanisms.
Forty-six investigations focused specifically on children and teenagers. Most involved betting offers on youth competitions, including matches in the Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior. Authorities also opened cases involving underage registration and two cases over betting logos displayed on uniforms worn by children.