SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
APAJO, Portugal’s Online Gambling Trade Association, has filed ‘criminal complaints’ against social media influencers promoting unlicensed gambling websites.
The trade association has urged Portuguese authorities to intervene in the marketing of illegal online gambling, which targets national consumers and undermines the regulated market’s offering.
Complaints target the social media channels of Portuguese influencers GODMOTA, Bruno Savate, Numeiro, and Cláudia Nayara.
APAJO stated, “In recent days, we have filed criminal complaints against several content producers who promoted illegal gambling through social media to an audience of several million followers. These online gambling operators do not have a licence to operate in Portugal.”
The complaint explained that the four influencers’ media profiles reach a combined audience of 2.8 million followers, likely exposing Portuguese minors to gambling environments on streams uploaded to Twitch, TikTok, and other social media channels.
The operators included in the complaints are Vem Apostar!, Betify, Monro, Weiss, BC Game, Stake, Wolfi, and Starda, all of which lack the licenses to operate in Portugal.
APAJO‘s charter seeks new partners to combat unlicensed gambling. It estimates that black market encroachment costs the Portuguese government €100 million in lost taxes each year.
APAJO has called for strengthening the Portuguese inspectorate Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos (SRIJ) to combat crime and integrity issues directly, using tactics employed by other European regulators.
APAJO’s president, Ricardo Domingues, emphasised the need to prioritise the fight against illegal online gambling to protect individuals and ensure proper tax revenue.
“The fight against illegal online gambling through legal and other means must be a priority. The licensed sector wants to highlight the importance of this issue, which is still largely ignored.”
In May, Amazon-owned Twitch introduced new features to give viewers greater control over adult content on the live streaming platform.
Twitch unveiled a new content filter that allows audiences to exclude any streams or videos promoting gambling or other adult-themed content. The new features include the option to blur out thumbnails promoting adult themes related to sexual content, drugs or intoxication, gambling, violent and graphic depictions, significant profanity, and mature-rated games.
