Commonwealth statutory authority, The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission announced suing Facebook parent company Meta for supposedly allowing misleading crypto ads on FB.
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ACCC claims that the platform is involved in misleading actions by publishing scam ads that feature popular Australian people including businessman Dick Smith, TV presenter David Koch, and former politician Mike Baird. Contents that promoted investment or money-laundering scams proved to be scams and they featured famous persons without their consent.
The watchdog alleges Meta of aiding and abetting or was deliberately concerned in fake promotions and representations by the ad publishers.
The Chair of the department Rod Sims said Meta is responsible for advertisements that appear on the platform. He noted that it's a part of the company's business to enable ad publishers to target users, who would probably click on the links and earn revenue.
According to Sims, Meta failed to take necessary steps to prevent fake ads even when people featured in them reported the company about the issue. He says the agency is aware of a consumer who as a result of such a scam lost over $650,000. The agency is pursuing court orders such as penalties, and warnings to prevent possible scams on Facebook.