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Highlights
- Facebook fails to take down fake and misleading cryptocurrency advertisements featuring Andrew Forrest from its platform.
- Forrest takes a stand for all general Australian citizens from falling prey to such scams.
- The case will be heard on 28 March 2022 at the Western Australia General Magistrate court.
Mining magnate and billionaire Andrew Twiggy Forrest has taken legal action against social media giant Facebook for breaching money laundering law in Australia. The former CEO of Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX:FMG) calls Facebook, which is now renamed as Meta, as ‘criminally reckless’.
In his complaint, Forrest has accused Facebook of breaching anti-money laundering laws by failing to take down several misleading cryptocurrency advertisements that featured his image.
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This is not the first time Forrest has levelled allegation against the social media giant. According to Forrest, these scams have been taking place since 2019. The billionaire businessman had already urged Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg publicly in 2019 to take serious action against such scamming activities.
Forrest believes that Facebook has lost control over safeguarding its community standards to prevent its platform from being used for criminal activities ever since it has been rebranded to ‘Meta’.
While these misleading advertisements promise to make people rich through investments in cryptocurrencies in quick time, Forrest has made an attempt to safeguard innocent Australian citizens from falling into the traps of the scammers. “I am concerned about innocent Australians being scammed through clickbait advertising on social media,” said Forrest after taking legal action against Facebook.
The initial hearing of the case will take place on 28 March 2022 at the Western Australia Magistrate Court.
How is Facebook dealing with this allegation?
Image source: © Antares614 | Megapixl.com
A Meta spokesperson preferred to remain silent on this matter but asserted that the company bans all kinds of scam ads on Facebook.
Meta has claimed that it takes multifaceted approaches to stop these misleading ads on its platform. The company added that it not only identifies and rejects such ads but also blocks the advertisers from its services. In some cases, the company also takes legal action against scammers to enforce its policies.
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However, Forrest has mentioned that he wants social media companies to utilise their resources and funds gained from annual revenue to protect vulnerable people from falling into such traps and losing their life-long savings in the process.
Facebook has recently shared its Q4 FY21 updates stating US$33,671 million revenue during the period ended on 31 December 2021.
Forrest has also revealed that he had filed a separate civil proceeding at the Supreme Court of California against Facebook in September last year. That case is still pending at the Supreme Court of California.
