Australia's consumer protection commission said it had
started Federal Court proceedings against Meta Platforms for "false,
misleading or deceptive conduct" in breach of consumer or securities laws.
It accused Meta of failing to do enough to stop scam ads for
cryptocurrency or money-making schemes, even after being alerted by celebrities
who had been misrepresented by similar ads published on Facebook.
Meta vowed to defend itself, saying in a statement that it
sought to stop scam ads by using technology to detect and block them. "We
don't want ads seeking to scam people out of money or mislead people on
Facebook — they violate our policies and are not good for our community,"
a Meta spokesperson said. The social media titan said it had cooperated with
the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's investigation.
According to the commission, the ads featured well-known
Australians, including former New South Wales premier Mike Baird and
businessman Dick Smith. But the high-profile personalities featured in the ads
had never approved or endorsed them, it said.
"Apart from resulting in untold losses to consumers,
these ads also damage the reputation of the public figures falsely associated
with the ads," said the commission's chair, Rod Sims.
"Meta failed to take sufficient steps to stop fake ads
featuring public figures, even after those public figures reported to Meta that
their name and image were being featured in celebrity endorsement
cryptocurrency scam ads," he said.
The commission said it was aware of one consumer who had
lost more than AUD 650,000 (roughly Rs. 36,595,312) in one of the scams being
falsely advertised as an investment opportunity on Facebook.
"This is disgraceful," Sims said.
The consumer protection authority said it was seeking orders
from the court including injunctions, penalties and the payment of legal costs.
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