Last Friday (25th), President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT)announced a Provisional Measure that prohibitsany type of online betting within the national territory. The ban on bets has been generating news, social media buzz, and political discussions. Polls conducted after the announcement show that Lula's support has increased, while his main opponent, Flávio Bolsonaro (PL), has remained stagnant or slightly declined.
InBdF Interview, the psychologist and researcher at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp), Altay de Souza, who has been following the emergence of bets in Brazil since, evaluates the measure as positive, although late and driven by political conveniences. In this sense, he points out that all voting intention surveys "speak about the past, not the future". "That is why her decision-making frame to condition our future decisions is always short-term," he assesses.
For the scientist, the interruption of activities is a "humanitarian decision" and should have occurred from a strictly human and preventive perspective. "It was much more a political decision than a humanitarian one, because it should have been a humanitarian decision in favor of public health," he stated.
Souza compared the crisis to a tsunami that finally hit Brazilian society after years of the advancement of advertising and popular adoption, which rose from 8% of the population in 2022 to 30% between 2023 and 2024. "The bet spread so quickly here in Brazil compared to other countries due to our colonial and racist heritage, in which, in fact, the dominant class saw the bet as a possibility, not to develop the State, but to ensure the maintenance of inequality and its family structures, which is something that we have had since the hereditary captaincies," he points out.
In addition to thedirect impactsIn mental health and public health, with an increase in cases of gambling addiction, suicides, and overload in the services of the Unified Health System (SUS), the sector has caused a wave of indebtedness for Brazilian families. Data indicates that the betting market has generated a net loss of R$ 62.5 billion from Brazilian families' budgets in 2025, which has ceased to circulate in the country and has ended up in tax havens. The researcher highlighted the contrast between the country's aggregated indicators and the financial reality of the population. "Macroeconomically, it seems very stable, but microeconomically, which reflects in people's daily lives, is terrible," he points out.
In the face of the ban, which is expected to begin to take effect on October 6th, the expert warns that the country will face a long and complex process of social reconstruction and psychiatric and psychological care. "I will be really happy when the ban on bets in Brazil becomes an effective law," he emphasizes. He adds that years of investment in training professionals and community support groups will be needed to repair the accumulated damage. "We estimate that it will take at least seven to 10 years to amortize the damage caused by bets in the public health service, from suicides, treatments, impact on public services, absenteeism, people who are absent, work. We will take approximately five years to amortize all the losses that bets have already caused in our society," he reflects.
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TheBdF InterviewAirs Monday through Friday, always at 4:00 PM, onRádio Brasil de Fato98.9 FM in Greater São Paulo.