Meta has 48 hours to remove “illegal” gambling ads from Brazil

Since legalising gambling in 2018, Brazil has seen a steady increase in online gambling, which has contributed to an uptick in gambling-related issues. 

Gambling is currently legal in Brazil, provided that operators hold a license from the Brazilian Ministry of Finance. 

Companies are only allowed to operate and advertise if they are on this approved list of licensed operators created by the Ministry. 

There were 81 operators selected this year, including:

• BetMGM

• Matchbook

• Novibet Casino 

What has Meta been accused of?

Meta has been accused of publishing adverts in Brazil for gambling companies that are not registered with the Ministry.

The accusation comes from Brazil’s Attorney General (AGU), who claims that advertising for these companies is just as illegal as operating them. 

A deeper dive into their advertising library suggests there may be “hundreds” of these adverts on Meta. 

What is Brazil concerned about? 

Gambling in Brazil was legalised in 2018, when the Brazilian Government legalised casinos in an attempt to crack down on black market gambling. 

The list of legalised operators was released in January of this year. 

Their main goals are to ensure that the operators available are paying the correct amount of tax and to protect the public from scam operations. 

Promoting unregulated casinos decreases the likelihood of achieving these goals, raising concerns within the Brazilian government. 

The main concern is that these unregulated adverts will lead to:

“Tax evasion, money laundering, crimes against consumer relations, fraud and other illegal practices”. 

The warning

The ministry requested that Meta remove the offending ads, giving them 48 hours to comply. 

It has also requested that the social media company stop promoting content that doesn’t meet the Brazilian government’s regulations, including promoting casinos which aren’t on their approved list. 

The AGU ruled that digital platforms are liable for their advertisements and should “act diligently” to remove any unwanted content. 

Meta’s policies

Another issue seems to be a public commitment made by Meta. This commitment surrounds advertising policies for gaming operations. 

This new policy requires advertisers to have permission from Meta, having established their licenses and who exactly they are targeting. 

The AGU seized this opportunity in their argument, suggesting that Meta’s new process needs to be “urgently resolved in order to fully comply with Brazilian law”. 

A rise in problem gambling 

Last year, Brazil became the world’s seventh-largest market for gambling revenue, which had a ripple effect on the economy and the nation’s mental health. 

According to this report, treatment referrals for mental health tripled in the space of a year. 

Brazil held “15 per cent of the global total in 2024”, taking in over four billion dollars of revenue a year. 

Enforcement on large companies 

Meta owns Facebook and Instagram, providing them with an audience of billions of people. A company of this size being held to account is an important example to other companies that they are required to follow regulations. 

This is not the first time we have seen an issue with companies following advertising regulations, with BetMGM failing to follow the rules earlier in the year. 

If Meta meets this deadline and complies with the new Brazilian regulations, it will set a precedent that no company is above the rules, not even one as big as Meta.