Poland is asking the European Union (EU) to impose a €250 million ($291 million) penalty on Meta. The country said the tech giant has not done enough to stop scams and false advertisements on its platforms. The request comes after Poland’s cybersecurity team tested 122 ads flagged as fraudulent and found that most remained online.
Poland asks EU to impose a hefty fine on Meta
Polish Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said Meta is not acting quickly enough when scam or fraudulent advertisements are reported on its platforms. In a letter sent to the European Commission on August 26, the official pointed to findings from CERT Polska, the country’s national cybersecurity incident response team. The team identified 122 active fraudulent ads.
Despite reporting all of them, Meta chose not to remove 106 of them, or 86.8% of the reported cases. Only ten ads were taken down, while six received no response. The government official said they’re now over asking and waiting for an official response from Meta. The official also blamed the company for putting its commercial interests above its users’ safety.
Meta says it is working to remove such fraud ads as soon as possible
As usual, Meta has denied all the allegations. A company spokesperson told Reuters that scammers are becoming more sophisticated and to fight that, the firm is investing heavily in technology. Moreover, the company said it is working with industry groups and law enforcement to detect and remove fraudulent activity as soon as possible.
However, this is not where it ends. The Polish minister is urging other European governments to join them in challenging Meta. He said he would raise the issue at the upcoming G20 summit. Further, he argued that a united European position would send a stronger message to the company. He believes a €250 million fine would be large enough to act as a genuine deterrent, given Meta’s size and the damage caused to Polish users.
The post Poland Urges EU to Fine Meta €250 Million Over Scam Ads appeared first on Android Headlines.
