Chile Halts Online Gambling Website Blocking Amid Regulatory Deadlock
Chile’s SubTel Halts Court-Ordered Gambling Website Blocks – Enforcement Limits Intensify Regulatory Debate
Key Takeaways
- Chile’s telecommunications agency SubTel has stopped enforcing court-ordered IP blocking measures against unlicensed gambling websites.
- The Supreme Court previously ruled that online gambling is illegal unless expressly authorised by law and ordered telecom providers to block offshore sites.
- SubTel stated that operators circumvented blocks by switching domains, making enforcement ineffective and resource-intensive.
- President José Antonio Kast’s new government faces internal divisions over how to structure a future online gambling framework.
SubTel Withdraws From Blocking Offshore Gambling Sites
Chile’s national telecommunications agency, Subsecretaría de Telecomunicaciones, known as SubTel, has informed the Supreme Court that it will no longer attempt to block access to unlicensed online gambling websites.
The decision follows years of legal and technical efforts to enforce IP blocking measures secured in favour of Polla Chilena and other municipal gambling operators. In 2023, Polla Chilena won a federal appeal seeking restrictions against online gambling operators, at a time when Chile had not yet finalised a national regulatory framework for online gambling.
The case escalated to the Supreme Court, which ruled that online gambling in Chile is illegal unless expressly authorised by law. The court ordered telecom providers to block access to offshore betting sites, with SubTel responsible for coordinating enforcement.
However, SubTel has now acknowledged that the strategy has proven ineffective. According to Romina Garrido, Chile’s Undersecretary of Telecommunications, operators were able to bypass restrictions by shifting to new domains once blocks were imposed. Because the court orders targeted specific web addresses rather than underlying platforms, enforcement required continuous monitoring and repeated technical action.
SubTel stated that it could no longer justify dedicating resources to uphold these measures.
Legal Mandate Meets Technical and Resource Constraints
The agency’s position was presented to the Supreme Court amid growing scrutiny over whether blocking campaigns had produced meaningful results. Judges reportedly sought clarification on the effectiveness of the enforcement actions.
Garrido told lawmakers that SubTel had not been formally a party to the original legal proceedings. As a result, the agency lacked direct authority beyond coordinating technical compliance with telecom providers. Despite this limited role, SubTel was tasked with implementing a complex and ongoing blocking regime.
Garrido also warned that enforcement efforts were consuming significant resources at a time when the agency was already overstretched. The ongoing stagnation of Chile’s online gambling regulation debate has added administrative and operational strain.
For users of offshore betting platforms, the development signals that access restrictions based on domain blocking are currently no longer being actively pursued by the telecommunications authority. However, the Supreme Court’s legal position that online gambling is unlawful without explicit authorisation remains unchanged.
Political Divisions Over Chile’s Gambling Framework
The collapse of the enforcement strategy has intensified political divisions within Chile’s Congress.
Some deputies argue that Supreme Court rulings must be complied with regardless of operational challenges. Jaime Mulet, President of the Finance Committee, has defended continued scrutiny of the matter, stating that judicial decisions must be enforced.
Others have called for a shift in focus toward establishing a regulated online gambling framework through legislative action. Jorge Guzmán, a deputy from the Evópoli party, has argued that Congress should prioritise advancing regulation rather than requiring SubTel to continue a technologically difficult campaign against offshore domains.
The debate reflects broader uncertainty about the structure and scope of any future licensing system. While Chile has not yet finalised its online gambling legislation, the issue remains under active discussion in parliamentary committees.
President Kast Faces Internal Coalition Disagreements
Attention now turns to the government of President José Antonio Kast, who assumed office in March 2026.
Kast leads the Republican Alliance, a conservative coalition in the National Congress. Reports indicate that the coalition’s four-party bloc holds differing views on how online gambling should be regulated.
The central point of disagreement concerns the licensing structure of the proposed online gambling bill. Some ministers favour preserving online privileges for municipal operators while limiting the number of licences granted to international operators. Others support a broader regulatory approach.
The issue arises at a time when the new administration is pursuing significant fiscal reforms. President Kast has announced plans to impose a 3 percent reduction in spending across all public departments. In the first year, the government aims to generate cost savings of 8 billion dollars, with projected annual savings of 21 billion dollars by the next election cycle.
According to reports, the settlement of Chile’s online gambling framework could become part of wider negotiations linked to the government’s austerity agenda. The administration has also signalled that it will review agencies and policies considered to be hindering economic growth.
Implications for Operators and Users
For international online gambling operators, the current situation creates a legal and operational paradox. The Supreme Court has declared offshore online gambling unlawful without express legal authorisation, yet the practical enforcement mechanism through domain blocking has stalled.
For users in Chile, this means that while the legal status remains restrictive, the technical barriers previously implemented through SubTel are no longer being actively maintained. The broader regulatory framework, including potential licensing conditions and market access rules, remains unresolved.
Until Congress advances formal legislation, uncertainty is likely to persist regarding the long-term structure of Chile’s online gambling market.
Our Assessment
SubTel’s decision to halt enforcement of court-ordered IP blocking highlights the practical limitations of domain-based restrictions in a digital environment where operators can shift web addresses. The Supreme Court’s ruling that online gambling is illegal without authorisation remains in place, but the technical enforcement mechanism has proven unsustainable. At the same time, political divisions within President Kast’s coalition and ongoing fiscal negotiations continue to delay the establishment of a formal regulatory framework, leaving Chile’s online gambling market in a legally restrictive but operationally unresolved state.
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