What you need to know
- Meta is being sued by Australia.
- The country's media watchdog claims it allowed scam adverts relating to crypto on its Facebook platform.
- The ACCC alleges that adverts were likely to mislead people and that Meta is responsible.
Meta is being sued by Australia over claims it let advertisers post scam crypto ads to its Facebook platform, misleading users.
The ACCC announced Friday that it had started court proceedings against Facebook owner Meta "alleging that they engaged in false, misleading or deceptive conduct by publishing scam advertisements featuring prominent Australian public figures."
The body also says that Meta "aided and abetted or was knowingly concerned in false or misleading conduct and representations by the advertisers."
The suit pertains to ads "which promoted investment in cryptocurrency or money-making schemes" and were likely to mislead users. The schemes were associated with well-known celebrities including businessman Dick Smith, TV presenter David Koch, and former NSW Premier Mike Baird.
ACCC Chair Rod Sims said that Meta was responsible for the ads on its platform and that it was aware of the crypto scams but didn't take sufficient action to address the issue. Sadly, it seems that some customers and users on Facebook did indeed fall for some of the averts, Sims said that in one "shocking case " the ACCC was aware of someone who lost more than $650,000 to one of the scams.
Meta has attracted global scrutiny over its handling of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and Instagram was banned in Russia because of its decision to continue allowing calls for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in a deviation from its usual policy.
