Meta Rubbishes ACCC’s Crypto Ad Claims on Facebook

Meta, Facebook’s parent company has dismissed claims that more than 50% of crypto ads on Facebook are scams. 

The tech giant argues that the data which the claimants, ACCC, are basing their claim is outdated (dates back to 2018) and limited. It also says that it has since adopted measures aimed at addressing the issue. Meta also claims that other contact methods remain the leading cause of scams.

ACCC stands for The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. 

According to a Meta spokesman,

Scammers use every platform available to them and constantly adapt to evade enforcement. Meta doesn’t want scams on its platforms and we will continue to work tirelessly to prevent them and protect our users. When a scam occurs, typically our services represent only one part of the attack chain, meaning we do not have visibility of the scam from end to end. The preliminary analysis referred to is an allegation in the ACCC’s claim and relates to a historic internal study from 2018 of a small sample of ads. Meta is defending the ACCC’s claim and will respond to the allegation in due course.

Why The ACCC has Dragged Meta to Court

The ACCC alleges that over half of crypto-related ads it analyzed on Facebook were either scams or violated Meta’s policies. In 2022 it filed a court case against Meta over celebrity scam ads. 

ACCC claims that Meta had engaged in false, misleading, or deceptive conduct in publishing the ads and is aiding and abetting the false conduct by the advertisers.

Though there has been a recent hearing on the matter, the final outcome is still pending. 

The ACCC says it has 234 ads on which its legal challenge is based. This is a reduction from the previous number which it put at 600. 

ACCC acknowledges that Meta deletes individual adverts and pages that are subjects of complaints and that it sometimes suspends the accounts of those responsible for these ads. But it says Meta still allows ads that are similar to the ones it penalizes. 

ACCC also notes that Meta has the technical competence to warn about such ads, including notifying users about the likelihood that public figures appearing in these adverts do not imply an endorsement by such figures. 

Unfortunately, Meta does not take any steps towards these, according to ACCC.

Meta Says it is Tackling Fraud on its Platforms

In response to questions from UK Members of Parliament, Meta disclosed its efforts to tackle fraudulent practices on its platforms. 

It says that apart from suspending and deleting accounts, pages, and ads, it has also taken legal action against those who violate its terms of service.

For instance, it claims to have acted against a large number of user accounts that target users in Australia and all over the world between January 2023 and January 2024.

In June this year, Meta also came up with a new policy that requires phone number verification by new advertisers before they can launch ads.

But skeptics such as the ACCC remain unimpressed with Meta’s best efforts.