Polish Billionaire Plans To Sue Meta Platforms For Alleged Fake Advertisements

Zinger Key Points
  • Meta says it removes false ads from its sites as it becomes aware of them and works with local authorities to deter scammers.
  • Rafal Brzoska and his wife may carry out the suit in the U.S. if it is met with inaction in Europe.

Rafal Brzoska, a Polish billionaire who founded Polish locker company InPost, and his wife, Omenaa Mensah, plan to file a lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc. META for allegedly putting fake advertisements on Facebook and Instagram that feature his face.

Brzoska said they have not yet chosen a jurisdiction to file the planned suit, which also alleged that both social media sites are circulating false information about his wife, Reuters reported.

Brzoska’s legal action would be the latest attempt worldwide to hold Meta responsible for ads that consistently show up on the sites despite user complaints.

Meta said it removes false ads from its sites as it becomes aware of them and works with local authorities to deter scammers, but Brzoska said he told Meta about the issue in early July, but the company still has not fixed the problem.

“Scammers use every platform available to them to defraud people and constantly adapt to evade getting caught. Scam content breaks our rules and we remove it when we find it," Meta told Reuters.

"We also partner with businesses, local administrations and law enforcement to defeat these committed criminals."

Read Also: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg Owns Two Of The Biggest Social Media Platforms In The World. He Now Thinks This Experience On Phones Is ‘Anti-Social,’ And Why He’s Focused On Ray-Ban Smart Glasses

Brzoska told Reuters that he and his wife “are considering absolutely all scenarios” for jurisdiction and may carry out the suit in the U.S. if they are met with inaction in Europe.

He said they would demand in the suit that Meta stop benefiting from promoting content which violates their rights and donate to charity an amount of money matching the amount of ad revenues Meta received by spreading the false information.

Last week, Poland’s Personal Data Protection Office told Meta Platforms Ireland Limited to stop displaying false advertisements that used real data and images of Brzoska and his wife on Facebook and Instagram in Poland for three months.

Price Action: Meta gained 2.25% to $527.59 by Tuesday’s mid-day trading, while exchange-traded funds that track the company also picked up.

  • Direxion Daily META Bull 2X Shares METU gained 3.49%
  • Fidelity MSCI Communication Services Index ETF FCOM edged up 1.12%
  • Vanguard Communication Services ETF VOX rose 1.16%
  • Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund XLC went up 0/96%
  • IShares Global Comm Services ETF IXP climbed 0.77%

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Photo: Melnikov Dmitriy on Shutterstock

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