The Portuguese Parliament has reopened arguments on an overhaul of gambling advertising and promotion-related controls, with proposals to be heard going forward.
The left-wing party Livre has proposed a number of measures which aim to prevent gambling addiction, with advertising being a large component. On Friday (September 26), the party took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a speech on the matter.
The post, once translated into English, states their reasons for the proposals: “Being in recovery from a gaming addiction and seeing advertising everywhere, on the street, in the metro, on TV, on the internet, is to be forced to flee from the world to resist temptation. This is not freedom.
“The purpose of regulating online gambling advertising is to protect people and families. It is not to prohibit, but to set rules so that the profit of some does not destroy people’s lives. Advertising for gambling is everywhere — and it is destroying lives.”
Estar em recuperação de uma adição ao jogo e ver publicidade em todo o lado, na rua, no metro, na TV, na internet, é ser obrigado a fugir do mundo para resistir à tentação. Isto não é liberdade. pic.twitter.com/hiUn3WL42t
— LIVRE (@LIVREpt) September 26, 2025
Portugal’s left-wing party Livre is calling for changes in gambling laws
They also stated on social media that the regulation of online gaming ‘is not censorship,’ but the idea is to protect those who are targets of advertising and the dependencies it creates.
”Online gambling has the big problem of being very invisible, it’s a very invisible addiction because it happens, there it is, on the mobile phone, on the computer, when nobody else realises that this addiction is taking place,” warned Livre’s parliamentary leader and spokesperson, Isabel Mendes Lopes, at a press conference in the Parliament.
One of the proposals by the Livre party has already been rejected which includes the prohibition of sales or limiting the availability of scratch cards in health establishments. Now though, the members of parliament in Portugal will be reviewing gambling advertising and promotions.
Some of the other left-wing or left-leaning political parties in the country agree on the need for tighter restrictions and gambling reforms, while others disagree with the proposals.
The Portuguese Online Betting and Gambling Association (APAJO) has also spoken out, instead saying that these limitations are not the solution. They say that limiting advertising could give illegal operators an advantage “by making it seriously difficult for consumers to distinguish between what is licensed and what is not.”
Featured Image: AI-generated via Ideogram
