Rhode Island sues Meta alleging company profits from rampant scam ads, ignoring pledges to protect users
Rhode Island filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit against Meta, accusing the company of knowingly allowing widespread fraudulent advertising on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp while earning billions from the scheme and misleading users about its anti-fraud efforts.
Meta is alleged to have actively assisted scammers through its AI ad creation tools, failed to block fraudulent advertisers and sometimes charged them extra as a penalty instead of banning them, with roughly 10% of Meta’s 2024 revenue coming from such ads.
Scam ads disproportionately targeted elderly users, with examples including ads claiming to “reverse Alzheimer’s in 45 days,” impersonating public figures and banks and Meta’s own internal review admitting it was “easier to advertise scams on Meta platforms than Google.”
The lawsuit seeks monetary penalties, consumer restitution and a court order requiring Meta to stop profiting from scam ads and to address the problem, following Meta’s recent $18 billion multistate settlement over child addiction claims and a $25 billion New Mexico privacy judgment.
Meta disputes the lawsuit as “unfounded,” pointing to its removal of over 159 million scam ads, new anti-fraud tools and partnerships with law enforcement, while Rhode Island argues that scams remain rampant and readily findable on the platforms.
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