California county scam ad lawsuit adds to mounting Meta legal woes

Santa Clara County, California, has filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms, alleging the company knowingly profits from and facilitates scam advertisements. The lawsuit claims Meta's systems flag potential scammers but only ban those with a 95% certainty of fraud, charging others a premium to continue running ads targeting vulnerable consumers with fraudulent schemes. This action follows a recent California ruling that found Meta liable for intentionally addictive design features that harmed young users, and a separate lawsuit by the Consumer Federation of America also alleging Meta fails to protect users from scammers. Meta denies the allegations, stating it aggressively combats scams and removed 159 million scam ads last year.

Santa Clara County, California, has filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms, alleging the company profited from illegal scam ads on Facebook and Instagram. The suit, filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court, claims Meta violated California's false advertising and unfair business practices laws by tolerating fraudulent advertising. The county alleges Meta earned up to $7 billion annually from these "high-risk" scam ads, even implementing policies to limit scam reduction efforts if they impacted profits. Meta denies the allegations, stating the claim misrepresents their efforts to combat scams. The lawsuit seeks restitution, damages, and an order to prevent future unfair business practices.