‘I want to make money because I have to close one eye, but when I do, I pretend to be a victim.’
Australian regulators have filed a lawsuit against Facebook owned by Meta Platform over allegations that the social media giant failed to stop scammers (scammer) from using its platform to promote fake ads.
According to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC), the fake ads used the Facebook platform to promote crypto investments and misleading money -generating schemes, as well as using images of Australian business leaders, TV hosts and politicians.
In filing the suit, Facebook was accused of aiding, abetting or being aware of the existence of such false and misleading advertisements.
ACCC chairman Rod Sims issued a statement calling on Meta to take responsibility for its actions that allowed the fake ads to hover on the Facebook platform.
A Meta spokesman in its response said they would look into the ACCC filing and would defend themselves against the charges.
He said Meta will work with the ACCC in resolving the problem, besides stating that the company's technology policy has detected and prevented any form of advertising that deceives and misleads consumers.
For the record, Sims says the ad has managed to defraud consumers of US $ 480,000.
Normally, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) will handle cases involving financial fraud against companies but in this case, the ACCC is given temporary authority to file a suit.
Going down the record, this isn’t the first time Facebook has faced the same problem.
Last month Fortescue Metals Group chairman Anfrew Forrest launched a court lawsuit against Facebook over the issue of fake ads involving crypto.