Competition Commission files Complaint Against Facebook Owner ‘Meta’ for False, Misleading, and Deceptive Advertisements

The Competition and Consumer Commission said that it has filed a Federal Court complaint against Meta Platforms for “false, misleading, or deceptive behaviour” in violation of consumer and securities laws.

It accused Meta of not doing enough to block fraudulent advertisements for cryptocurrency or money-making schemes, after being notified by celebrities who had been misled by similar Facebook ads.

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Australia stated on Friday that it is suing Meta, the company of Facebook, for cryptocurrency scam ads that fraudulently purported to be backed by celebrities. Meta promised to defend itself, stating in a statement that it aimed to reduce fraudulent adverts by detecting and blocking them using technology.

The advertising featured well-known Australians, including former New South Wales premier Mike Baird and businessman Dick Smith, according to the commission. The high-profile people featured in the commercials, on the other hand, had never approved or sponsored them, according to the report.

“These advertising not only cause immeasurable costs to consumers, but they also harm the reputation of the prominent people wrongly linked with the ads,” said Rod Sims, the commission’s head.

“Even when those public personalities notified to Meta that their name and picture were being used in celebrity endorsement bitcoin scam advertising,” he added, “Meta failed to take appropriate action to halt fraudulent ads using public people.”

According to the commission, one consumer lost more than Aus$650,000 (US$480,000) in one of the Facebook scams fraudulently presented as an investment opportunity.

Sims described the situation as “disgraceful.” The consumer protection agency stated that it was seeking injunctions, fines, and the reimbursement of legal expenses from the court.