Brazil: Legal Action Demands Betting Sites Block Bolsa Família Recipients

Brasil.- May 27 2025 www.zonadeazar.com Social groups urge urgent action to protect public funds from misuse in online gambling

Two Brazilian organizations have filed a lawsuit demanding that betting platforms block, within 90 days, users registered in the government’s CadÚnico program (which includes Bolsa Família beneficiaries) from signing up or gambling online. The petition calls for a R$500 million fine if betting companies fail to comply. The lawsuit targets the federal government, betting operators, and the Brazilian Institute for Responsible Gaming (IBJR).

It also demands that President Lula’s administration provide gambling platforms with a database of CPFs (individual taxpayer numbers) belonging to Bolsa Família recipients within 15 days.

Public funds diverted to gambling: alarming data revealed

The lawsuit, filed by Educafro and the Mônica Paião Trevisan Child and Adolescent Defense Center, aims to protect vulnerable groups and ensure that public assistance funds are not misused.

According to the Central Bank, Bolsa Família recipients sent around R$3 billion to betting companies. The social program currently assists nearly 54 million families across Brazil.

Key demands of the lawsuit

  1. Implementation of automated CPF-based exclusion systems by all betting sites.

  2. Judicial mandate for the federal government to oversee and share social program data.

  3. Payment of R$500 million in collective moral damages, to be allocated to the Fund for Diffuse Rights or social projects.

  4. Refund of all amounts received from transactions involving CPFs registered in CadÚnico, back to the Ministry of Social Development.

  5. Immediate platform access block for Bolsa Família beneficiaries, pending a final ruling.

Government inaction and legal precedent

Despite Supreme Court (STF) rulings and warnings from the Federal Audit Court (TCU), the federal government has yet to take concrete action to restrict gambling access for vulnerable citizens. The plaintiffs insist this can be achieved without violating Brazil’s General Data Protection Law (LGPD), using automated filtering based on CPF data.

Supreme Court rulings cited

The petition references two Direct Actions of Unconstitutionality (ADIs 7721 and 7723), where Minister Luiz Fux ordered the government to prevent the misuse of social program funds in gambling. However, the situation reportedly worsened, prompting this legal intervention.

Editó: @_fonta www.zonadeazar.com

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