Brazil justice ministry cannot account for figures on illegal betting actions
Regulation3 min read
Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security said it could not identify the source of government figures on actions against illegal betting, in a response to an access-to-information request. Three ministry units said they lacked consolidated data, including figures on completed removals and investigations; one unit noted that identifying and referring content does not establish that platforms removed it.
Brazil's Ministry of Justice and Public Security said it could not identify the source of government figures on action against illegal betting, in response to an access-to-information request. Three ministry secretariats said they lacked consolidated data on the figures, which the government published on 10 October.
The government said it had referred 16,627 illegal betting sites for blocking between 25 September and 9 October. It had reportedly requested the removal of 3,691 pages, profiles, channels, groups and servers on digital platforms, including 1,974 Facebook pages and 560 Instagram profiles.
The request asked how many of the 3,691 removals had been completed on each platform and how many followers the pages and profiles had. It sought figures on investigations, arrests and operations since provisional measure 1.394/2026, as well as the number of bank and payment accounts blocked and the amounts blocked and recovered. None of the questions received a numerical answer.
The National Secretariat for Digital Rights (SEDIGI), which the measure charges with notifying platforms and app stores to remove irregular content, said it could not establish the origin or composition of the figures. SEDIGI said it could not determine whether any of the figures reflected its own work. It said figures on completed removals and the reach of profiles had not been consolidated and would require additional work, while questions about investigations and blocked accounts fell outside its remit.
The cybercrime unit CIBERLAB, part of the National Secretariat of Public Security (Senasp), said it lacked consolidated data on all the questions. It said identifying and referring irregular content did not establish that it had been removed, because removal depended on the platforms. The unit said follower counts did not establish a profile's actual reach, a measure dependent on platform data it did not hold. CIBERLAB said it did not centralise records of investigations, arrests and operations and suggested referring the questions to the competent authorities without naming them. The National Consumer Secretariat said the matter was outside its work.
SEDIGI's response identified six administrative proceedings opened under the measure. They included requests to Meta to remove sponsored advertisements and third-party content promoting betting operators. Operators were notified to take sites offline and redirect visitors to a government portal. One proceeding recorded the referral of a list of Instagram profile addresses to Senasp for investigation. Senasp said its role was to monitor and pass information to other authorities, not to decide on blocks.
None of the questions about investigations was referred to the Federal Police, which is part of the ministry and received a division for combating illegal betting on 13 October under ministerial ordinance 1.325/2026. The ministry, Senasp, SEDIGI, the betting regulator SPA and telecommunications regulator Anatel presented an enforcement update at a press conference on 29 September.
The Central Bank responded to the request on 28 October without providing data, while the Ministry of Finance had yet to respond. The requester plans to appeal by 13 November, seeking referral of the questions to the Federal Police, copies of Meta's responses in the proceedings and identification of the government unit that produced the figures published on 10 October.