Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, faced new lawsuits in Japan on Tuesday. A group of plaintiffs sued over the presence of fake advertisements for investment projects featuring celebrities on the platform. The 30 plaintiffs are seeking damages totaling $3 million.
The lawsuits were filed against the U.S. tech giant and its Japanese unit in district courts in Osaka, Kobe, Yokohama, Chiba, and Saitama.
Among the celebrities whose identities have been used in scam ads there is Japanese entrepreneur, Yusaku Maezawa, founder of the online fashion store Zozo Inc. We wrote about this situation earlier: https://cpa.rip/en/news/japanese-billionaire-sues-meta/
The plaintiffs viewed the fraudulent advertisements, and after that, they were asked to transfer money to the fake investment accounts.
They argue that Meta has a duty to verify the content of advertisements and prevent them from being posted on social media if it can foresee a risk of harm to users.
“Maezawa and another entrepreneur, Takafumi Horie, requested that the fake ads be removed, but Meta ignored their requests, causing significant damage to their reputations,” said Kusuo Tsuneoka, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs.
Tsuneoka told a news conference in Chiba that the legal team is considering filing additional lawsuits:
“If more people speak out, we will have more regulations in place against fake advertising. We would like affected people to contact us.”
Earlier this year, Meta received a similar lawsuit filed in Kobe by a group of four people. However, the corporation is seeking to have the damages claim dismissed.
- More information: Google News.
