People walk behind a Meta Platforms logo during a conference in Mumbai, India, September 20, 2023.
6:00 JST, April 27, 2024
The Liberal Democratic Party’s working group dealing with the issue of false advertising on social media called out Meta Platforms Inc. executives. to testify in the Diet.
The issue of fake advertisements with fake celebrity endorsements on Facebook, which is operated by Meta, was on the agenda at the working group meeting held in Tokyo on Thursday.
“We would like to ask for consideration in view of the summons [Meta executives] as unsworn witnesses of the Diet,” said the group’s head, Takuya Hirai, chairman of the LDP Headquarters for Promoting a Digital Society.
Hirai said people would not be able to use social media with a sense of security if the platform providers, who are supposed to take responsibility, maintain the current situation. The working group is considering the creation of legislation and regulations to address the problem, he said.
There are a number of people who have fallen victim to fraud after being led to the messaging app Line through false advertisements containing the names and images of prominent figures.
A senior executive from LY Corp., which operates Line, also attended the meeting. He explained that the company tries to prevent damage by repeatedly displaying warnings in the app.
The working group is considering interviewing other platform providers in the future, including X, formerly Twitter, and TikTok.
Meta sued for fake ads
KOBE – Four people have sued the Japanese arm of Meta for failing to act despite numerous cases of investment fraud using fake celebrity endorsements on Facebook and Instagram.
The plaintiffs from Kobe and elsewhere filed the lawsuit in Kobe District Court on Thursday, seeking a total of about ¥23 million in damages.
This is likely the first lawsuit in the country seeking damages from a social media operator for posting fraudulent advertisements.
According to the complaint, plaintiffs transferred money to a designated bank account several times after seeing false advertisements on Facebook and other social media sites soliciting investments using celebrities, including businessman Yusaku Maezawa, and after communicating with people who claimed to be the assistants of such celebrities.
The plaintiffs alleged that the Japanese branch neglected its duty to refrain from publishing false advertisements when it could have foreseen that the content of the advertisements was questionable and could harm users.
The company noted that it would not comment on individual cases.
