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The Brazilian Ministry of Finance is reportedly preparing an ordinance to control sponsored content from influencers and celebrities when it comes to endorsing online gambling.
The report came from Brazilian media outlet O Globo, which claimed that a formal ordinance related to the advertising and marketing of regulated online gaming and betting operations is imminent.
Should it be published, it will be the first ordinance from the federal government since Law 14.790 was sanctioned in December. The industry is still waiting for various ordinances and normative instructions about key issues such as the kind of online games that can be offered.
According to the Globo report, the ordinance aims to make influencers directly responsible for any advertising they participate in that does not comply with Brazilian regulations, rather than putting the onus solely on operators that contract with them.
The ordinance will also require influencers to identify their promotional posts for gambling as advertisements, in addition to publishing accurate information.
Brazil’s social media influencers hold enormous power over consumers.
Nearly half of Brazilian consumers said that they chose products based on celebrity and influencer endorsements, according to the Statista Global Consumer Survey, surpassing China as the country where celebrities hold the most influence with consumers.
That influence has already been notable within the unregulated online betting market, with a series of recent reports focusing on the role of social media personalities in heavily promoting specific online casino games that have become popular with Brazilians.
Earlier this month, the governor of Paraiba in northeastern Brazil also signed a law to prohibit any influencers resident in the state from promoting gambling operators.
Udo Seckelmann, a gaming lawyer with Bichara & Motta, told Vixio GamblingCompliance: “The number of influencers that advertise gambling in Brazil grew a lot in the past couple of years, and, consequently, some of them are not following or applying responsible gambling principles — due to the absence of regulations on the subject — and this is a cause for concern.
“Thus, the Ministry of Finance is correctly drafting the ordinance to address this matter.”
The forthcoming Ministry of Finance ordinance would follow new self-regulatory standards for online betting advertising that establish specific guidelines in Brazil for the first time.
Brazilian advertising council CONAR published an annex to the national advertising self-regulatory code on December 29, centred on key principles of advertising identification, truthful presentation and information, protection for children and adolescents, social responsibility and responsible gambling.
Influencers and other contracted parties should abide by the standards, along with betting operators themselves, according to the CONAR annex.
The CONAR annex will come into force tomorrow, January 31.
