Work

Banning loot boxes for minors: A public health framework and the case of Brazil

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Brazil's Digital Child and Adolescent Act (2025) prohibits paid loot boxes in games accessible to minors under a public health and child-rights framework, regardless of whether they should be classified as gambling. The law focuses on psychological mechanisms underlying harm, including variable-ratio reinforcement and reward uncertainty, to which adolescents are developmentally vulnerable. It establishes administrative sanctions, including fines of up to 10% of the company's revenue and service suspension, and restricts personalized advertising and algorithmic systems targeting minors. As the first major market to adopt a preventive harm-reduction ban, Brazil creates measurable regulatory benchmarks and a natural experiment to assess whether legislative boundaries reduce harm, influence industry monetisation strategies, and inform proportionate digital governance internationally.

Source: Journal of Behavioral Addictions

DOI: 10.1556/2006.2025.00524

Authors: Daniel Tornaim Spritzer, Ivelise Fortim, Thiago Henrique Roza, Felix Henrique Paim Kessler, Hyoun S Kim

Institutions: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Toronto Metropolitan University

Language: English

Topic: Gambling Behavior and Treatments

Subfield: Clinical Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Peace, justice, and strong institutions, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $916