Brazilian Court Orders Nationwide Suspension of Pixbet, Flabet, and Bet da Sorte Over Age Verification Failures

A court in Paraíba state has ordered the nationwide suspension of online betting platforms operated by Pixbet Soluções Tecnológicas Ltda., including the brands Pixbet, Flabet, and Bet da Sorte, for failing to implement adequate age verification controls. The preliminary injunction, issued by Judge João Lucas of the Children and Youth Court in Campina Grande on July 14, gives the company 48 hours to comply or face a daily fine of R$100,000 (approximately $19,665), with one report noting an additional cap of R$100 million on total fines.

Required Safeguards

To resume operations, Pixbet must demonstrate that it has deployed three specific technological barriers: facial recognition with liveness detection for every login and financial transaction, biometric verification cross-referenced against official government databases, and automatic blocking of registrations using the CPF (tax identification number) of minors. The suspension will remain in effect until the court is satisfied that these mechanisms effectively prevent access by children and adolescents.

Legal Basis and Industry Criticism

The decision rests on Brazil's Constitution, the Statute of the Child and Adolescent (ECA), the Digital ECA (Law No. 15.211/2025), and the Betting Law. The judge also cited Interministerial Ordinance No. 73/2026, which reinforces the duty of betting operators to erect effective barriers against underage access and prohibits advertising targeting minors. "Everyday experience and news reports on the internet demonstrate that children and adolescents continue to access betting platforms with relative ease, using the CPF numbers of parents, guardians, or third parties, often without any effective biometric verification," Judge Lucas wrote. The court further criticized elements of Pixbet's products and marketing—such as online casino games, visual features, and football-related advertising—that it said could appeal to children, conflicting with constitutional protections for minors.

Enforcement and Wider Context

The ruling orders communication to the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) for possible blocking of the platforms if the company fails to comply, as well as notifications to the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets of the Ministry of Finance and the National Data Protection Authority (ANPD). Separately, Brazil's Ministry of Justice recently notified Apple and Google after identifying betting apps in their stores that lacked effective age verification mechanisms to prevent access by users under 18. Pixbet had not publicly responded to the decision at the time of publication.