California county sues Meta over scam ads

California's Santa Clara County has sued Meta Platforms, alleging it has profited from Facebook and Instagram ads promoting scams in violation of California's false advertising and unfair business practices laws.



The lawsuit – filed Monday in Santa Clara County Superior Court on behalf of all California residents – accuses the social media giant of tolerating fraudulent advertising on a global basis. The suit seeks restitution, civil damages and an order prohibiting Meta from engaging in unfair business practices.

Citing leaked internal documents first reported by Reuters last year, the complaint alleges that the company earned as much as $7 billion in annual revenue from so-called "high-risk" scam ads which show clear signs of being fraudulent.



Rather than undertaking a broad crackdown on fraudulent advertisers, the county alleges, Meta largely tolerated the misconduct and even established “guardrails” to block scam reduction efforts if they cost the company too much money.



Meta said it intends to defend itself against the claim.



"This claim relies on Reuters reporting that distorts our motives and ignores the full range of actions we take to combat scams every day," said Meta spokesperson Andy Stone.