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Is my site blocked in Portugal?
In Portugal, the culture inspectorate (IGAC) can have internet providers block pirate sites and streams without going to court, by web address, domain name or server address; the gambling regulator (SRIJ) has unlicensed gambling sites blocked. A site unrelated to piracy can be caught if it shares a server address that is used mainly for piracy and little else. To find out, search OONI Explorer, a public archive of network tests, for results from Portugal, and ask an affected visitor what page they see.
Sources: PGD Lisboa, Law 82/2021 of 30 November 2021 · SRIJ, illegal gambling, updated 6 August 2026 · OONI, FAQ (undated, accessed 11 November 2026)
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We cannot test providers in Portugal yet. Enter a page and pick a country: we open it through connections of the main providers there (home and mobile; mobile only in Norway) and tell you provider by provider whether it opens. Free, about a minute, a few checks per hour.
Can IGAC block a site without a court?
Yes. IGAC (Inspeção-Geral das Atividades Culturais) supervises copyright online. Under Law 82/2021, in force since January 2022, its head decides when copyrighted material must be taken down or blocked. IGAC first gives whoever publishes the content 48 hours to take it down. If nothing happens, it notifies the providers, who then have 48 hours to comply. IGAC skips the first step when the publisher cannot be identified or contacted, or in urgent cases such as live streams (see below). An order can block a web address (URL), a domain name in DNS (the internet's address book, which turns a name into a server address), or an IP address (the numeric address of a server). Providers carry no liability for blocks they apply on IGAC's orders.
Source: PGD Lisboa, Law 82/2021 of 30 November 2021, articles 2, 3, 5 and 13
Before the law, IGAC's requests to block pirate websites rested on an agreement made in July 2015 between IGAC, the providers' trade association, rights holders and others. It covered sites with more than 500 pirated works, or where two thirds of the works on offer were pirated, and providers blocked the listed sites in DNS.
Sources: Exame Informática (Visão), 30 July 2015 · SAPO Tek, 16 May 2016
Courts can order blocks too. The Copyright Code lets a court issue interim orders against any company whose service others use to infringe copyright or related rights. In June 2024 Cisco suspended OpenDNS, a public DNS service that some people use instead of their provider's, for users in Portugal, citing a court order under that rule. Cisco said such demands should go to the companies that host or control the content, not to DNS services.
Sources: PGD Lisboa, Copyright Code (consolidated to June 2023), article 210-G(3) · TorrentFreak, 29 June 2024 · ECO (Lusa), 4 July 2024
What does IGAC block during Liga Portugal matches?
Live events get a faster track. When waiting 48 hours would make an order much less useful, for example because content is streamed live for a limited time, IGAC can skip the notice to the publisher and go straight to the providers, who must then act as soon as possible.
Source: PGD Lisboa, Law 82/2021 of 30 November 2021, articles 3 and 5
Providers and IGAC were already blocking pirate football streams in 2019, when they blocked almost 2,000 illegal streams of league and cup games. In 2025 IGAC handled 2,012 piracy complaints and confirmed 81% of them, according to the annual report of the government's anti-counterfeiting group. During 86 Liga Portugal matches, IGAC ordered 3,950 domains blocked.
Sources: Público, 1 February 2020 · Observador (Lusa), 7 July 2026
IGAC's director of inspection services said in April 2026 that blocks during live events are temporary.
Source: CNN Portugal (Lusa), 28 April 2026
Can IGAC block a shared server address?
It can, but the 2021 copyright law limits when. IGAC may order a server address blocked only if it is mainly or repeatedly used to share pirated material and has little or no other use. An address with substantial legal use does not meet that test, but a site that shares an address used mainly for piracy can be caught. That matters if your site is on shared hosting or a CDN, a network that serves many sites from the same addresses. Our note Collateral blocking in Europe covers cases from Spain, Italy and Austria.
Source: PGD Lisboa, Law 82/2021 of 30 November 2021, article 5
Does a betting or casino site need an SRIJ licence?
To offer online betting or casino games in Portugal, an operator needs a licence from SRIJ (Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos), the gambling regulator; SRIJ treats operators without one as illegal and publishes the list of licensed operators. As of October 2026, the list names 19 companies with 33 licences for online betting, casino games and bingo. Between 29 June 2015, when the online gambling rules took effect, and 30 June 2026, SRIJ sent 1,834 notices telling unlicensed operators to stop operating in Portugal. In the same period it asked internet providers to block 3,043 of their websites, 113 of them between April and June 2026. If your site offers betting or casino games to players in Portugal, check that the operator is on SRIJ's list before you look for a network fault.
Sources: SRIJ, illegal gambling, updated 6 August 2026 · SRIJ, licensed entities, updated 19 October 2026 · SRIJ, Q2 2026 report, August 2026
What do Portuguese block pages look like, and how do I appeal?
Search OONI Explorer for Portugal, the Web Connectivity test (OONI's website test) and your domain. OONI confirms a block automatically when a provider serves a block page it recognises. As of November 2026, OONI's list of known block pages has three entries for Portugal: two pages titled "Bloqueado por ordem judicial" (blocked by court order) and "Acesso bloqueado por entidade judiciária" (access blocked by a judicial authority), and a redirect to a Vodafone address, mobilegen.vodafone.pt/denied/dn. A visitor who sees either title, or ends up at that Vodafone address, is seeing a provider's block, not your site.
Sources: OONI, FAQ (undated, accessed 11 November 2026) · OONI, blocking fingerprints (GitHub file, accessed 11 November 2026)
If an IGAC order blocks your site, anyone it directly harms can appeal to the Intellectual Property Court within 30 days of being notified of it.
Source: PGD Lisboa, Law 82/2021 of 30 November 2021, articles 8 to 10
We do not measure Portugal yet; demand decides the order in which we add countries. A check there would have to cover SRIJ's blocks of unlicensed gambling sites and IGAC's blocks by domain name and server address, including the temporary ones during Liga Portugal matches. As of 11 November 2026, linkspect is open in early access in Germany, Poland and Norway.
Facts checked on 11 November 2026.