Brazil trade body identifies 802 Instagram profiles promoting illegal betting
The ANJL said its monitoring covered 48,318 profiles. Nearly 74% of those identified posted suspicious gambling links at least once every three days.
Key points
- The ANJL identified 802 profiles from a database of 48,318 monitored accounts.
- The profiles shared links to 844 websites, according to the association's monitoring.
- One monitoring round on 27 October identified 626 profiles sharing links to suspected gambling sites.
- The association sought action from Meta, Google, TikTok and X in early September.
A Brazilian gambling trade body has identified 802 Instagram profiles promoting links to illegal betting sites, according to data consolidated on 2 November and reported by iGaming Business.
The National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) used the LegitBet monitoring platform to identify the profiles from a database of 48,318 accounts. The association said the figure represents profiles already found by its monitoring, not the total number on Instagram.
The platform conducted periodic monitoring rounds beginning shortly before Brazil's regulated market opened on 1 January 2025. In a round on 27 October, it checked 908 profiles in an hour and 25 minutes and identified 626 sharing links to suspected gambling sites.
That round also found 500 new addresses, 396 of which showed a pattern of affiliate links. Across the 802 profiles, the monitoring identified links to 844 websites; the most widely shared link appeared on 86 profiles.
The data showed 73% of the profiles had between 10,000 and 100,000 followers, while 23.6% had between 100,000 and 1 million. Almost 74% made recurring posts, defined as a new advertisement with suspicious links related to illegal gambling at least once every three days.
ANJL President Plínio Lemos Jorge raised concerns about young people seeing the promotions, noting that Instagram allows teenagers as young as 13 to open accounts. He said the audience was exposed to influencers and illegal websites that do not prohibit access for minors.
In early September, ANJL sent an extrajudicial notification to Meta, Google, TikTok and X seeking a permanent plan to identify, remove, de-index and block profiles, applications and content promoting illegal sports betting operators in Brazil. The companies did not respond, iGaming Business reported.
The outlet reported that Provisional Measure 1,394 banned Brazil's licensed betting market. Lemos Jorge said the government's decision had made dialogue between legalized betting companies and technology companies more difficult.
ANJL said protecting bettors requires continued monitoring of advertising profiles, the websites receiving users and the payment methods supporting the operations.
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