Free today leads to AR “urgent discussion” about online game regulation

“ This is a completely urgent discussion and we cannot wait another two or three years because there are many lives at stake, actually. There are many families, and they are often dramatic situations, some of life or death. There is a responsibility here of the Assembly of the Republic to define which side it wants to be ", defended the spokesperson of Livre, Isabel Mendes Lopes, in statements to Lusa.

About a year after having advanced with various initiatives on the subject, which ended up failing in the specialty, Livre again insists on regulating the online game so that the subject “is not forgotten” and understands that it is concerned “a huge public health problem”, by marking a current debate, which requires the presence of the government in parliament.

Isabel Mendes Lopes recalled that the Minister for Economic Affairs and Territorial Cohesion, Manuel Castro Almeida, said this summer that the government intends to adopt new legislation on this subject, but that it is not known until now.

The parliamentary leader also criticized the “very aggressive” advertising of online gaming houses, giving as an example football, where “practically all teams in the first league are sponsored by betting houses”.

“There is an almost omnipresent presence of advertising to the game and, therefore, the promotion of the game. And this has to be regulated,” he said, pointing out that only in 2025, in an online context, 23 billion euros were bet and there are 4.9 million player records. Of these, 413,000 people submitted requests for “self-exclusion”, that is, “asked for help not to play”.

Considering that a significant universe of the population is at stake, Livra again presents a legislative package on the subject, insisting on old proposals and presenting some new ones, such as taxation in the IRS of the net balance obtained in online gambling and betting.

In the project, it is argued that “who gets a net gain through online gambling and betting should contribute according to the same tax justice rules applied to those who get income through work, a pension, savings or investment, without losing sight of public responsibility to prevent and reduce the damage associated with gambling”.

The party also proposes to strengthen the means of the Institute for Additive Behaviors and Dependencies and the National Health Service in the treatment of this dependency.

With regard to advertising, the Free again proposes limits, establishing that ads should be socially responsible, “safeguarding the protection of public health and, in particular, the protection of minors and other vulnerable or risky groups”, without “glorification of the game”, messages of easy gains or “disappreciation for those who do not play” or do not participate in this type of activities.

Among the proposals is also the prohibition of public figures or digital influencers being able to advertise such games and the obligation for establishments to report warnings about the potential of addition and the minimum age to play, as with tobacco.

Free also wants to allow players to exclude themselves from all licensed online gaming platforms at once, and not one by one, that it is possible to impose time limits or money to bet, and to prevent bonus allocation by bookmakers.

With regard to the sale of lottery tickets and instant lottery (more known as “scrapers”) in health places, the party wants to prohibit it.

The bench also presented a draft resolution – without force of law – that recommends the government to carry out a national campaign to raise awareness of the risks of adding to the game.