Australia's Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has taken Meta, the parent company of Facebook, to court over allegations of hosting scam ads that impersonated Australian celebrities.
The ACCC claims that Meta engaged in 'false, misleading or deceptive conduct' by knowingly hosting ads for bogus cryptocurrencies, which targeted susceptible users using Facebook's algorithms.
Former New South Wales Premier Mike Baird, prominent TV host David Koch, and millionaire entrepreneur Dick Smith were among those whose identities were used without permission in the scam ads.
ACCC chairman Rod Sims stated, 'The essence of our case is that Meta is responsible for these ads that it publishes on its platform.'
One consumer reportedly lost over A$650,000 (£360,000; $480,000) due to one of these scams being falsely advertised as an investment opportunity on Facebook.
Meta, which also owns Instagram and Whatsapp, generated $115 billion in global advertising revenue in 2021.
