Tension is rising in Chile due to the implementation of the Supreme Court order restricting online betting platforms nationwide. Major telecommunications companies such as Claro, Entel, GTD, Telefónica, WOM, and VTR have confirmed that they fully comply with the ruling. Nevertheless, the industry warns that such platforms keep on operating simply through circumventing the restrictions with minimal technical changes.
The association representing the sector, Chile Telcos, has issued a statement confirming that they have complied with the court order. According to Alfie Ulloa, its president, all providers implemented the required blocks. However, he also noted an important caveat. Service providers cannot manage traffic based on content, origin, or destination unless the courts or administrative authorities explicitly order it.
Uloa explained that this structural limitation leaves significant loopholes. He clarified that betting sites can change their URLs and remain operational. He added that other access methods fall outside the control of Internet providers. These alternatives include VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) and independent DNS systems offered by third-party content providers.
As a result, online sports-betting platforms have continued operating. This exposes the challenges of enforcing digital restrictions in an open, globalized internet environment, even when telecommunications companies have formally complied with the requirements.
When the Santiago Court of Appeals asked Internet providers to confirm compliance with the Supreme Court ruling, concerns about the block’s effectiveness date back to mid-November. The ruling had accepted a legal protection request filed by Lotería de Concepción, arguing that online betting platforms operate illegally in Chile.
Yet such an order quickly turned out to be difficult to carry out technically. In practice, blocking a domain or URL is only a short-term solution. Operators can easily bypass the block by changing domain names or redirecting traffic to other digital platforms.
