Buenos Aires, March 28 (NA) – Despite the indifference of the national government and many provincial governors to a 'silent epidemic' that is growing, particularly among adolescents and young people, and showing its worst face amid the economic crisis, the Civic Coalition is not giving up and insists on the treatment of initiatives aimed at directly combating the scourge of ludopathy and online betting. In 2024, national deputy and then president of the Addictions Prevention Committee, Mónica Frade, took on the task of building consensus for the approval of a bill that, after months of discussion, was passed by the Chamber of Deputies on November 27 of that year. The Senate, however, shelved the initiative throughout 2025 to the point of letting the bill drop, causing it to lose its parliamentary status: the lobby of betting and gambling corporations won out. 'I didn't have high expectations, but I had met with the head of the Senate, Victoria Villarruel. She told me she would do her best. Health is a national issue. What is done in the provinces is relative,' she reflected. The initiative presented by Buenos Aires provincial deputy Romina Braga (Civic Coalition) incorporates advertising restrictions and prevention policies to address the growth of addiction to digital gaming. 'The growth of online gaming is creating new forms of addiction, especially among young people. Today, betting is literally a click away, and the state must act with clear rules to prevent and protect those who can get trapped in these practices,' stated the provincial deputy. In addition to maximum restrictions on advertising for gambling games, Braga's bill limits payment methods to cash or debit cards and prohibits the use of credit systems to load funds, while also introducing limitations on transfers from minors' accounts and proposes deposit caps for bets. For the online betting modality, the bill proposes the mandatory biometric identification of users on online gaming platforms at the start of each session, with real-time verification to ensure that minors are kept out. Another outstanding point of the bill is the blocking of betting sites in educational establishments to prevent access from schools. It also requires that online gaming platforms and systems comply with a series of 'responsible gaming' requirements that allow consumers to access accurate information about the bets they participate in, their user history, time online, self-exclusion mechanisms, the ability to set limits, and time and money alerts, as well as help and assistance sections. Another key aspect of the bill is the creation of a voluntary self-exclusion registry, which allows a person who believes they have a problem with gambling to self-exclude temporarily or permanently, and establishments and online platforms must enforce this prohibition. Promotions or welcome bonuses that incentivize betting are also prohibited, and conversely, responsible gaming policies are promoted with awareness campaigns and assistance devices for people going through ludopathy problems. As stated in the bill's arguments, 'virtual gaming can generate faster addictive processes than in-person gaming,' and 'its expansion through mobile devices and virtual wallets poses new regulatory challenges.' 'The practice of online sports betting has become an increasingly widespread trend among adolescents, marking an evolution in the problem of ludopathy. This phenomenon has shifted addiction from traditional bingo and casinos to the digital realm, especially through mobile devices,' explains Braga. In this sense, the bill adds that 'this worrying trend has also reached the family sphere, where money allocated to adolescents through virtual wallets is diverted to betting.' 'The influence of online gaming companies has infiltrated the daily lives of young people, generating discussions and debates similar to those that arise over other consumables, such as alcohol, drugs, and social media,' concludes the provincial deputy.
