Brazil’s Secretariat of Prizes and Betting has moved to restrict social interaction features and engagement mechanisms used by licensed online gambling platforms operating in the country.
The decision was communicated to operators licensed under Brazil’s Bets regime through an official SPA notice, issued under the authority of the Ministry of Finance.
The ruling was triggered after Kaizen Gaming submitted a query asking whether its flagship brand Betano could implement social interaction features for registered customers on its platform.
Betano’s submission outlined plans to activate an “integrated social environment” within its online platform, a feature that would have been accessible exclusively to registered users.
The SPA rejected the proposal outright, concluding that such functions are fundamentally incompatible with the regulatory framework governing licensed online gambling platforms in Brazil.
Regulators determined that the features sought by Betano could exert undue influence on customers, potentially encouraging riskier gambling behaviour across its user base.
The SPA argued that the publication of betting slips, casino wins, or gambling activity constitutes a form of data sharing between users, even when no direct communication takes place between them.
On that basis, the regulator concluded that social media-style functions fall squarely within the scope of the existing prohibition on manipulative engagement mechanisms.
The formal response was signed by Renato Perez Pucci, General Coordinator of Betting Supervision, and cited Ordinance SPA/MF No. 1,231/2024 as the governing legislative instrument for these matters.
Article 42 of that Ordinance makes clear that no scheme or feature may incentivise a customer to play more or alter their existing gambling habits in any way.
The SPA explicitly stated that its interpretation should be treated as binding guidance for all licensed operators under the Bets regime, extending well beyond Betano and Kaizen Gaming alone.
This ruling adds another layer of compliance pressure for Bets market licensees, who have already been required to overhaul customer engagement strategies since welcome bonuses were banned on 1 January 2025.
Social engagement features of the kind Betano proposed are widely considered capable of extending playing sessions by mirroring the behavioural mechanics that drive engagement on mainstream social media platforms.
Brazil’s broader Bets regulatory framework is expected to undergo further revision before the end of 2026, as President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government and political blocs in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate remain dissatisfied with current consumer protection safeguards.
