A bill in Brazil's Chamber of Deputies would bar digital influencers from being paid based on the money bettors lose on online gambling platforms. The proposal, Bill 3,613/2026 and informally known as the PL Rafael, was introduced on July 9 by Representative Dandara Tonantzin of the Workers' Party (PT-MG). According to the Chamber's official record, it awaits a procedural ruling from the speaker of the House.
The bill is named after Rafael Borges Amaral, who died at 26 in March 2024 in Uberlandia, in the state of Minas Gerais. His mother, teacher Vania de Souza Borges, links his death to addiction to online betting and games of chance. On September 13, at a meeting in Brasilia, she asked President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to ban betting platforms in Brazil altogether.
"He asked and I was direct. I said the solution is to cut the evil at the root, to end the bets. I said regulating is not enough, they would have to end them for good," Vania told the news site g1.
What would change
Some influencers are paid today under a system known as revshare, g1 explains. The influencer promotes a platform and shares a link or promo code. Followers who sign up through it start betting, and the platform tracks where each user came from. Depending on the contract, the influencer receives a share of what the operator earns from that bettor. The bill bans precisely that: payments that rise with the amount users lose, including through indirect mechanisms, and calculations based on GGR (Gross Gaming Revenue), the operator's takings after prizes are paid out. Advertising for betting platforms would remain legal. Operators could hire influencers for a fixed fee, with no link to how much their followers bet or lose. The text covers fixed-odds betting, lotteries and games of chance, according to the bill's official summary.
Liability for the whole chain
The bill also proposes joint liability across the promotion chain, according to the investigative outlet Agencia Publica: influencers, affiliates, advertisers, operators and platforms would answer for damages caused to consumers. Contracts would have to be in writing and state the parties involved, the amount paid, the form and duration of payment, the channels used and how referred users are identified. "The more the consumer loses, the more the influencer earns. (...) Those who profit from the referral must also answer for it," Dandara said.
"Rafael's death is not an isolated case, it is the most painful portrait of a problem affecting an entire generation of young Brazilians. The state can no longer treat this as an individual problem. It is a public health issue," the lawmaker said.
Dandara also introduced Bill 3,563/2026, which would require platforms to detect risky betting patterns and report them to the Prizes and Betting Secretariat (SPA), the betting regulator inside the Finance Ministry. That text provides for a temporary preventive block of at least 60 days and mandatory recommendations that the user seek psychological support. She also asked the Justice Ministry to open an investigation into influencers, advertising agencies and affiliates over possible misleading advertising. The ministry told Agencia Publica the request is "under analysis by the competent technical areas".
The next step for the PL Rafael is the House speaker's ruling, which will assign the bill to committees. Only then can it go to a vote. "Let us hope the bill is approved and becomes law," Vania said.