The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice signed a technical cooperation agreement to identify manipulative patterns and review advertising on online betting platforms.
The ministries will combat ‘dark patterns’ on betting platforms. The federal government formalized last Tuesday (16) a partnership between the two agencies responsible for regulating and overseeing the betting market in Brazil, through Technical Cooperation Agreement No. 28/2026 between the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA/MF), and the National Secretariat for Digital Rights (Sedigi), under the Ministry of Justice.
The signing took place during the 1st Seminar on Consumer Protection for Bettors and Responsible Gambling, held at the headquarters of the National Institute of Criminalistics, in Brasília.
The ACT No. 28/2026 is the first formal agreement between the Justice and Finance ministries directly focused on the online betting market. On the Finance side, the SPA, responsible for licensing and oversight of operators, is involved. On the Justice side, the Sedigi, which handles digital rights and consumer protection in online environments.
The goal of the agreement is to develop actions to identify and combat so-called manipulative patterns (dark patterns), features used on digital platforms that can unduly influence user behavior and compromise conscious decision-making.
“This permanent channel of communication and institutional cooperation, aimed at protecting users and improving public policies, formalizes and strengthens the daily dialogue between the SPA and Sedigi teams,” said the National Secretary for Digital Rights, Victor Oliveira Fernandes.
He added: “The initiative creates conditions for even more coordinated action in facing the challenges brought by the digitalization of the market.”
Why dark patterns matter
Dark patterns (manipulative patterns) are already the target of international regulation, the Digital Services Act (DSA), in Europe, and the CFPB, in the US, formally addressed the issue before any equivalent initiative in Brazil.
For licensed operators, the agreement means that SPA and Sedigi will work together to map and document these practices before they turn into regulatory instruments.
What the agreement establishes
ACT 28/2026 establishes four joint areas of action:
Consumer education: raising bettor awareness of their rights and the protection mechanisms available.
Knowledge production: studies, research, and technical events on the impacts of online betting, with a focus on vulnerable populations.
Data cross-referencing: the SPA contributes information from the regulated market and operator oversight; Sedigi contributes analyses of advertising, platform transparency, and classification of risks of problematic use.
Regulatory guidance: drafting recommendations based on the studies conducted.
The agreement is valid for three years, as published in the Official Gazette (DOU) on June 18, and may be extended by consensus between the parties.
What changes for operators and suppliers
The agreement does not create new immediate obligations for licensed operators. By formalizing data exchange between SPA and Sedigi, the government will be able to identify behavior patterns on platforms and respond in a more coordinated manner.
For technology providers, the move indicates that discussions about responsible UX, responsible gambling tools, and self-exclusion mechanisms will gain increasing weight in upcoming license renewal rounds and in SPA’s technical requirements.