Brazil’s Child Gambling Rates Climb Despite ECA Digital Law and Platform Blocks

Brazil, the fifth largest betting market in the world, is struggling with record levels of child gambling. Highly-regarded sources estimate some 2.1 million Brazilians out of a population of 213.7 million have a clinical gambling disorder, with a further 7.5 million considered problem gamblers.

Recent research by global market research firm Ipsos indicated that some 11 percent of Brazilians under 18-years-old placed an online bet in 2025. This occurs against widespread adult gambling harms and coincides with a wave of global legislation protecting children online, including social media bans for under-16s in the UK, Canada and parts of Europe.

Regulatory Benchmarks Met by Persistent Access Gaps

Brazil enacted the Digital Statute of the Child and Adolescent (ECA Digital Law) in September 2025. The statute requires age verification technology in place of self-declared ages for content inappropriate for under 18s. It bans loot boxes for minors outright, citing addiction mechanics, and forces social media companies to link under-16 accounts to guardian profiles. Regulated operators must apply strict KYC checks and identity-proving methods.

The illegal market still accounts for up to 44 percent of online bets, according to a study commissioned by the Brazilian Institute for Responsible Gaming. Unregulated platforms have no incentive to verify age and typically require only a typed birthdate. Over half of adult bettors surveyed by Ipsos said they had used a site that skipped facial recognition in the past three months. Licensed apps demand IDs and selfie matches; offshore sites do not.

This July, in the northeastern state of Paraíba, The Campina Grande Children and Youth Court ordered that several licensed Brazilian betting brands, namely Picbet, FlaBet and Bet Dá Sorte, be blocked over allegations of children and adolescents accessing their platforms. The ruling noted that children and adolescents access platforms with relative ease by using parents’ tax IDs without effective biometric verification. Three child-rights organisations filed a civil lawsuit against Apple alleging minors reach gambling apps via its store. If ordered, Apple would have 10 days to enforce restrictions or face a daily penalty of BRL$500,000. One highlighted app, Casino Roulette: Roulettist, registered to KamaGames, required no age verification on download.

São Paulo Governor Tarcísio de Freitas warned at a recent debate: “Either Brazil ends gambling, or gambling ends Brazil.” Freitas added: “We have to understand that this is a health problem.” The Secretariat of Prizes and Betting has blocked more than 60,000 illegal betting platforms and affiliated sites since April. As reported by iGaming Future, political pressure is building ahead of presidential and national elections.

The Enforcement Gap

Recent court orders and platform blocks demonstrate that legislation alone does not close pathways for minors when nearly half of all wagering occurs outside the licensed framework. Authorities must now determine whether stepped-up biometric mandates and app-store liability will reduce the illegal market’s dominance before electoral decisions reshape the entire sector.

Reporting: iGaming Future

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