Brazil officially banned online betting and casino gaming on September 25, 2026, after which the Ministry of Justice and Public Security and the Ministry of Finance announced the blocks on September 27, as part of a joint task force. The same team also checked whether gambling ads were still reaching Brazilians, and between September 25 and 27, the government’s Cyber Operations Laboratory (Ciberlab) found about 1,960 Google ads linked to seven domains. At the moment, Google’s ad tool doesn’t show when each campaign started, so investigators aren’t sure about how many of those ads broke the new rules.
Regarding the Meta review, of seven ads checked, five started before the ban and stayed live, and two began running on September 25, after the ban was in force. Some ads offered casino games, bonuses, and cash rewards, and some appeared under page names or links that didn’t match the brand being promoted. However, TikTok couldn’t be checked at all, because its public ad library doesn’t cover Brazil.
Existing ads have until October 5 to be removed, so Ciberlab recommended that Meta be told to remove the post-ban ads and flagged three more domains for possible blocking. The government is also planning to conduct meetings with Meta, Google, and TikTok, and is set to carry out another review after October 5.
