ES
IT
PT
DE
NL
Chile’s Santiago Court of Appeals has approved a DNS-based process to block online betting and gambling sites found to be operating without authorisation.
The procedure establishes a continuing and updateable enforcement mechanism, allowing new domains and mirror sites to be added without reopening the original court proceedings. It also includes a review stage intended to reduce the risk that legitimate online services are mistakenly blocked.
The decision follows a Supreme Court ruling that ordered internet providers to block unauthorised online betting sites.
In May the Santiago Court of Appeals instructed the Telecommunications Subsecretariat (Subtel) to explain how internet providers could technically enforce the Supreme Court’s blocking mandate.
Under the process, Polla Chilena de Beneficencia, Lotería de Concepción or another supporting party may submit domains, subdomains, redirects and associated websites believed to be linked to unauthorised betting platforms.
The Superintendency of Gaming Casinos (SCJ) will assess whether the reported addresses fall within the scope of the judicial ruling.
If it confirms that a domain is connected to an unauthorised betting or games of chance site, Subtel will provide the validated address to internet-service providers for inclusion in their DNS-blocking systems.
The providers will be required to apply the block within the deadline set by Subtel and report their compliance to the Santiago Court of Appeals.
The process will then remain open to updates. New domains, subdomains and mirror sites may be submitted for review where operators seek to evade blocks by changing web addresses. The procedure also permits corrections if a block affects a legitimate third-party service.
The Court selected DNS blocking following a technical proposal from Subtel. The approach targets individual, validated domains and was considered more proportionate than broader technical measures, which could create a greater risk of over blocking lawful internet content.
The case stems from a protection action brought by Lotería de Concepción against telecommunications companies including Claro, Entel, GTD Manquehue, Telefónica Chile, WOM and VTR. The lottery argued that the providers were allowing access to online gambling services lacking legal or administrative authorisation in Chile.
In September 2025, the Supreme Court upheld the lotteries’ claim and ordered providers to block the betting websites identified in the proceedings. It found that the companies could not transmit or promote games of chance unless the operators held the necessary authorisation.
The new framework addresses a practical enforcement problem that emerged after the original ruling: operators could switch to alternative domain names or mirror sites after an address was blocked.
