Lula ramps up attacks on online betting and big tech as Brazil campaign strategy

As Brazil’s election campaign is about to formally begin, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has sharpened his attacks on bets and big tech, according to allies cited by Valor. For high-risk payment providers, the point is not just rhetoric: the government is signaling more pressure on online gambling flows, tighter access controls, and a tougher political backdrop for the sector.

1. Allies told Andrea Jubé that Lula wants to turn confrontation with online gambling into an electoral asset, especially with lower-income voters. The calculation is backed by polling and public-health data: an AtlasIntel/Bloomberg survey released at the end of April found that 70% of Brazilians support banning online betting, while a study by the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp) estimates that 10.9 million Brazilians show risky behavior with gambling and another 1.4 million already suffer from gambling disorders.
2. Some of Lula’s advisers floated the idea of a provisional measure (MP) banning bets during the campaign, drawing a parallel with the decree-law used by General Eurico Gaspar Dutra to ban casinos and games of chance in Brazil in 1946. That remains a remote possibility, both because of expected resistance in Congress during an election period and because Lula is known for caution on major decisions.
3. On Thursday (13/8), Lula escalated his language again: “The misery of gambling is that you spend your whole life gambling to pay for the loss of the first game,” he said. In April, he had already been more explicit, saying the government was debating a ban on betting companies. “If bets cause the harm we think they cause, why don’t we end bets?” he asked in an interview with ICL Notícias, adding: “Today the casino is inside your home,” while noting that a measure of that size would depend on Congress.
4. On the same day (13/8), Finance Minister Dario Durigan said around 5 million accounts are blocked on online betting platforms. Of that total, 800,000 were stopped from betting because they joined Novo Desenrola, a program that bars access to bets for one year; another 1.2 million self-excluded from the platforms; and 3 million are beneficiaries of social programs such as Bolsa Família, who are prohibited from placing bets.
5. In August, Lula also signed a bill assigning up to 3% of sports betting revenue to the Federal Police, following approval by MP. Earlier, on 8/4, he had already said openly that the government was discussing shutting down companies in the sector. The second part of the political strategy is aimed at the financial market: allies say Brazilians do not warm to banks, which makes attacks on “Faria Lima” politically useful, even as Durigan is expected to keep investor communication open while the fiscal side is being adjusted.

For PSPs, acquirers, and banks serving Brazil’s gambling stack, the immediate signal is clear: account blocking, payment access restrictions, and tax/allocation measures are already in motion, while a broader prohibition remains a political talking point rather than a settled legal change.