On October 2, Brazil's Attorney General's Office (AGU), which represents the government in court, appeared before the Supreme Federal Court to challenge the constitutionality of key provisions in the 2018 and 2023 laws that legalized betting and online casinos in the country.
Previously, the AGU had deemed these laws constitutional. This appeal comes just a week after President Lula signed a temporary measure imposing a ban on these activities.
The document was submitted as part of a lawsuit by the Attorney General's Office against these laws. According to the AGU, the laws failed to protect citizens from health risks and families from indebtedness, leaving children and adolescents unprotected.
To support its claims, the AGU cited a 140% increase in admissions to public clinics due to gambling addiction from 2018 to 2025, noting that not all of this increase can be directly attributed to online gambling.