Zona de Azar Brasil – Brazil: Anatel Advocates Expanding Its Powers to Block Illegal Bets

Brazil, December 18, 2024 – www.zonadeazar.com For the regulatory framework for sports betting to be effective, companies that do not follow the rules must be removed from the Brazilian market. This was stated by Anatel’s Superintendent of Supervision, Gesilea Fonseca Teles, during the CPI on Bets meeting held on Tuesday (17).

She also advocated for expanding the legal attributions of the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to strengthen supervision and sanctions in the sector.

Gesilea Teles attended the meeting on behalf of Anatel’s Director, Carlos Manuel Baigorri, who is currently on vacation.

According to the superintendent, blocking activities for irregular betting sites currently follow the framework established by the Ministry of Finance. A communication procedure has been formalized through a cooperation agreement, where the Secretariat for Prizes and Bets (SPA) is responsible for providing a list of websites to be blocked by internet providers.

— Since October 2024, Anatel has worked to block more than 8,560 illegal betting websites. The process works as follows: The Ministry of Finance sends us a list of sites to block. Anatel then communicates this list to internet service providers. These providers include mobile internet operators and fixed internet providers. There are over 21,000 providers involved — Gesilea Teles explained.

She clarified that Anatel does not have the authority to block sites directly; it merely informs providers of the ministry’s decision to suspend the sites’ operations.

Challenges

However, the superintendent warned of certain vulnerabilities that could weaken Anatel’s actions. For instance, users often utilize virtual private networks (VPNs) to mask their location, bypassing the blocking system.

— A VPN creates an encrypted connection between the user and the VPN server, making it impossible to determine the user’s real location. If someone connects to a VPN abroad, the providers in Brazil won’t know they are physically in the country. It’s a way to bypass a blocking order.

Another challenge mentioned by Teles is the rapid name changes of illegal sites, which limits Anatel to working with the closed list provided by the Ministry of Finance.

Jurisdiction and Legal Gaps

Anatel’s jurisdiction is limited to notifying telecom providers and does not extend to digital ecosystem agents such as social media platforms or online betting platforms. Teles called for changes to the Marco Civil da Internet (Law 12,965 of 2014) to grant Anatel authority to supervise, regulate, and impose sanctions on companies responsible for enabling connectivity services.

— It’s necessary to expand Anatel’s competencies to reach DNS providers and CDNs (Content Delivery Networks) like Google and Cloudflare to strengthen regulatory oversight.

Investments and Modernization

Teles emphasized that more resources and professionals would enhance Anatel’s capabilities to handle website blocking and enforcement using AI. Collaborating with legal betting companies to develop technological solutions for tracking and blocking illegal sites was suggested by Senator Izalci Lucas.

Senate Actions

During the meeting, eight motions were approved, including one requesting details on the administrative processes related to licensing for sports betting companies in Brazil.

Source: Agência Senado
Edited by: @_fonta www.zonadeazar.com