Deputies take the blocking fight to television
Two UDI deputies have asked Chile's National Television Council (CNTV) to suspend advertising by online betting operators at any hour. Eduardo Cretton and Marco Antonio Sulantay argue that promoting platforms the state is trying to block in court sends a contradictory signal.
Chile's Supreme Court ruled in September 2025 that telecom operators must block unlicensed betting sites. The Santiago Court of Appeal has approved the enforcement procedure: the gaming regulator SCJ names the domains to be blocked, and the Undersecretariat of Telecommunications passes the order to providers. The system is built to move quickly, with new domains added to the lists as they appear.
The deputies want the same treatment applied to advertising. 'Allowing betting companies to advertise while the courts ban them is an absolutely incoherent signal from the state, all the more so as this activity is carried out outside the law,' they told BioBioChile. Blocking sites achieves little, they said, while operators keep reaching Chileans in large numbers through television. They also pointed to risks for minors and for players with a gambling problem.
CNTV already fines channels for airing betting ads during protected hours, when children are watching, and courts have upheld the regulator's right to impose those sanctions. The new push goes further: a ban around the clock.
No licensing law yet
Online betting is formally unregulated in Chile. A bill covering operator licensing, taxes and responsible gaming is sitting in the Senate, and the government moved to speed up its passage this year. It has not become law.
