Argentina to begin roll-out of new advertising rules for online gambling

Argentina is introducing new federal legislation on gambling advertising, setting out rules designed to protect young audiences and vulnerable consumers.

Following months of debate in the Chamber of Deputies, the Ministry of Economy confirmed through the Official Gazette that the first stage of the framework has been approved. The new rules define how gambling and betting products may be advertised across the country’s 23 provinces and 1,170 municipalities.

This morning the official gazette of the Ministry of the Economy, confirmed that initial measures have been agreed to govern the advertising of gambling products/services on Argentine media platforms,  TV, radio, and social media influencers.

Under the new regulation, gambling advertisements must be concise, factual and limited to essential information, avoiding any exaggerated or misleading claims. 

All advertisements are now required to include two mandatory warnings:

• “Compulsive gambling is harmful to your health”

• “For +18 customers”

These warnings must appear in the lower section of the advertisement, using a minimum font size of four millimeters and accounting for at least 5% of the total height of the ad. The media must ensure that changes have been applied to advertising content by 30 November.

In audio-visual formats, they must remain visible for no less than five seconds, while in radio adverts they must be read clearly, without background music, and at a natural speaking pace.

The Secretariat of Industry and Commerce, which drafted the regulation, explained that the objective is to ensure clarity and transparency rather than overwhelm consumers with unreadable text or excessive fine print:

“By drowning consumers in too much information, advertisers risk leading them to make irrational or incorrect decisions. Presenting too many details in an unreadable format, or too briefly, can result in essential information being ignored.”

For the first time, the new advertising code extends to influencers and digital content creators who promote gambling or betting platforms — a decision prompted by growing concern over the spread of gambling-related content online.

As reported by SBC Noticias, concerns about gambling addiction were first raised by the Buenos Aires Executive, after public health and education authorities found that 34% of minors had gambled despite existing age-verification checks. 

In response, Jorge Macri, Chief of Government of Buenos Aires, suspended the issuance of new gambling licences, insisting that stricter rules were needed to protect minors and regulate advertising.

The Buenos Aires measures increased pressure on national lawmakers to act at a federal level, but the Chamber of Deputies missed its legislative target due to the provincial election calendar across Argentina in 2025.

Resolution 446/2025 now stands as the most tangible step in Argentina’s long-awaited reform process, paving the way for wider federal oversight through five civic committees responsible for public health, communications, criminal legislation, social action and youth welfare.

The new framework has been welcomed as a step forward for consumer protection and responsible gambling in some corners. However, skeptics feel that the measures remain too light-touch, focusing primarily on disclosure and presentation rules rather than robust enforcement or support programmes for at-risk groups.

For now, Argentina’s gambling sector enters a period of transition — one in which federal advertising rules will become mandatory, though their effectiveness in reducing youth exposure and gambling-related harm remains uncertain.