Meta receives 48 hour warning over illicit gambling ads in Brazil

Meta has been issued a legal notice from the Attorney General’s Office in Brazil over the proliferation of gambling ads on its social platforms.

The parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp has been instructed to remove the content, following a search of Meta’s ad library, which contained “hundreds” of active advertisements from profiles lacking the authority to promote gambling.

In Brazil, the Ministry of Finance’s Secretariat of Prizes and Bets is the body responsible for granting authority. 

The notice sent to Meta from the AGU requires the removal of all unapproved gambling content within 48 hours, with a further warning ot to endorse any unlicensed betting platforms in the future. 

As detailed by the AGU, the communication sent to the social media giant stated: 

“This is, therefore, a clearly illegal activity (given that these profiles are not authorised by the Ministry of Finance), which may also be linked to tax evasion, money laundering, crimes against consumer relations, fraud and other illegal practices, constituting their advertising as an equally illegal activity.”

Legal efforts to eradicate gambling ads in Brazil

The legal instruction also aligns with the recent Supreme Federal Court (STF) ruling on June 26, which declared Article 19 of Brazil’s Civil Rights Framework for the Internet partially unconstitutional. 

The article holds digital platforms liable for illegal ads unless they can demonstrate diligent and timely efforts to remove such content.

Brazil’s AGU went on to criticize Meta’s recent ad policy updates, which require permission to promote online gambling, noting that flaws in these policies need to be addressed. 

In May, the Senate approved measures banning betting ads during live sports broadcasts, as well as prohibiting print ads and restricting celebrity endorsements.

Online and TV ads are limited to 7:30 pm – midnight, while radio ads are only allowed from 9 am-11 am and 5 pm-7:30 pm.

Those measures could yet be amended or impacted by lawmakers, while many within the regulated gambling industry reacted with fury, warning the proposals would lead to a further drift to the underground market, and confusion about which sites are legal and which are illicit.

Image credit: Pexels

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