The post Australian regulator takes Meta to court over ‘deceptive’ crypto ads on Facebook appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Australia’s competition regulator has highlighted that the majority of crypto ads on Meta’s Facebook are likely scams. According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s filing with the Federal Court of Australia, Meta has been aware since 2018 that a significant portion of the cryptocurrency-related advertisements on Facebook were “misleading” or leveraged “deceptive promotional practices.” During its preliminary analysis, the regulator found that over 58% of the crypto ads it reviewed were either scams or violated Meta’s Advertising Policies. So far, the ACCC has identified 600 ads that promote celebrity scams. These adverts typically use images of key figures and celebrities in Australia to mislead investors before defrauding them via crypto investment scams. The filing highlights several names, such as actors Chris Hemsworth and Mel Gibson, alongside political figures like Mike Baird, whose likenesses have been used in these fake ads. For instance, in February 2024, cybersecurity firm Cybertrace issued an alert regarding scammers using deep fake videos of Australian mining tycoon and entrepreneur Andrew Forrest to promote a fake crypto trading app. The ACCC added that it expects to find other instances of such scams once the discovery process begins.  Further, the filing alleges that Meta possesses the ability to issue warnings on ads that it displays, specifically to inform users that certain advertisements, but has not done so. Instead, it takes down individual ads when it receives a complaint but continues to “earn revenue” from similar ads that sometimes feature the same celebrity. The regulatory agency initially took Meta to court in 2022 after alleging that the firm engaged in “deceptive conduct” by allowing scam celebrity-themed crypto ads. Prior to that, the agency had started investigating the tech behemoth for breaching Australian consumer law. As of now, a hearing date has not been confirmed. Australia faces surge in crypto…

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Filed under: News - @ August 15, 2024 4:24 pm