Australia’s competition commission cited preliminary research that revealed that over half of the cryptocurrency advertisements on the platform violate Meta’s policies or are fraudulent.
Australia’s competition commission has reported that more than half of the crypto ads on Facebook are either frauds or in violation of Meta’s policies, based on preliminary research.
In 2022, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) filed a lawsuit against Meta, the parent company of Facebook, on the grounds that the company had “aided and abetted” celebrity crypto fraud ads on Facebook. There has been no determination of a hearing date.
In its most recent submission to federal court, the ACCC asserts that its preliminary examination of cryptocurrency advertisements on the platform revealed that approximately 58% of them either violated “Meta’s Advertising Policies” or were potentially fraudulent.
The Australian Government website Scamwatch indicates that investment schemes remain the most prevalent method by which Australians are losing money, although no specific figure is provided for potential losses associated with these scams.
In 2024, there have been 3,456 allegations of investment frauds, resulting in a total of over $78 million in losses.
The ACCC claims that it identified 600 advertisements during its investigation. Nevertheless, it is currently concentrating on only 234 cases and asserts that it may uncover additional celebrity frauds following the discovery procedure in the case.
In December 2023, Andrew Forrest, a billionaire Australian mining magnate, filed a lawsuit against Meta for posting Facebook ads that utilized deep fakes of his image to promote fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes. The case was initially dismissed; however, in June, a United States magistrate authorized its continuation.
Simultaneously, the regulator contends that Meta has been cognizant of the fact that a substantial number of cryptocurrency advertisements on the Facebook Platform have employed deceptive or misleading promotional strategies since “at least January 2018.”
“Contractual obligations necessitate advertisers to assent to specific terms, including Meta’s Advertising Policies.” “These policies prohibit advertisements that advocate for schemes that employ deceptive or misleading practices,” the ACCC stated.
Meta does have the “technical capacity, or could have developed technology,” to add warnings to suspicious ads, advising users to exercise caution when interacting, according to the Australia Watchdog.
Allegedly, Meta continues to display and generate revenue from comparable advertisements depicting the same celebrity or other public figures, despite the fact that it removes individual ads in response to complaints and occasionally prohibits associated accounts.
Meta contends in its safety center that it invests in “products and support systems to keep the fraudsters out” and deletes false accounts.
According to Statista data, Facebook addressed 691 million fraudulent accounts in the fourth quarter of 2023, a decrease from the 827 million accounts in the previous quarter and the 2.2 billion fake profiles in 2019. Cointelegraph has reached out to Meta for a response regarding the ACCC’s allegations.
Also Read: Trump Organization to Establish New Crypto Venture in the Near Future
