The Australian competition watchdog is suing Facebook owner Meta platforms Inc

This comes as the social media platform allegedly engaged in false or misleading cryptocurrency advertisements in Australia.

According to the regulator, Meta published ads featuring “prominent Australian public figures” promoting money-making schemes or cryptocurrency investment which were “scams” that most likely mislead users.

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) says the technology of Meta enabled these ads to be targeted to users most likely to engage with the ads.

“It is alleged that Meta was aware that the celebrity endorsement cryptocurrency scam ads were being displayed on Facebook but did not take sufficient steps to address the issue,”

They say.

ACCC Chair Rod Sims says the essence of our case is that Meta is responsible for these ads that it publishes on its platform,

“Meta assured its users it would detect and prevent spam and promote safety on Facebook, but it failed to prevent the publication of other similar celebrity endorsement cryptocurrency scam ads,”

he says.

Savannah Pocock contributed to this report.