Brazil pushes list of blocked gambling sites to 5,200

Brazil has been zealously looking to restrict the access non-licensed gambling sites have in its local market, especially now that the country has launched its sports and online casino gambling industries as of January 1, 2025.

Brazil continues to crack down on illegal gambling

In another bid to crack down on illegal gambling sites, the Ministry of Finance has ordered the telecoms agency, Anatel, to block 1,812 domains that the ministry has deemed to be operating without the necessary licenses in the country.

This has pushed the total number of blocked websites to 5,200 and is the third such move against the black market. Previously, Anatel blocked 2,040 gambling brands as part of an initial wave of blocking in October and followed up with another blocking of 1,400 domains at the end of the same month.

Brazil has long cautioned that it would take a dim view of any gambling brand that continues to operate in the country after January 1, 2025, without the proper license to do so.

The government has even threatened that the gambling industry is not a done deal and Brazil may end up reneging on the existing laws and suspending gambling should the negative consequences of legalization outweigh the benefits in the end.

To ensure that these websites are indeed restricted, Anatel has sent the blocking order to Brazil’s 20,000 telecoms operators which will be able to issue individual ban against the blacklisted websites and ensure compliance.

Brazil blocks unlicensed gambling sites at an unprecedented rate

As to the regulated gambling sites in Brazil, there are currently more than 100 operators and 223 brands, with the whitelist of approved brands constantly revised on the ministry’s website for public reference.

Brazil is not the only country that issues individual blocks against websites that it deems to be operating illegally and targeting its citizens. Australia and the Netherlands are two other markets where ISP blocking has been a preferred method of dealing with offenders.

However, both countries have moved very slowly, studying whether a website is indeed breaching existing gambling laws before acting, and have usually been able to issue only a handful of bans a month.

Brazil in contrast has arguably trawled through thousands of unlicensed domains, moving at a far quicker pace.

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