Senators Demand FTC & SEC Inquiry into Meta‘s Ad Revenue from Scams
Washington D.C. – U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) have jointly called for federal investigations into meta’s revenue generated from advertisements promoting scams and prohibited goods on Facebook and Instagram.In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the senators requested a probe into the platforms’ handling of illicit advertising.
The call for investigation follows a recent Reuters report detailing internal Meta documents from late 2024, which indicated the company generated approximately $16 billion that year from questionable advertising. These documents reportedly showed Meta earns $3.5 billion every six months from “higher risk” scam ads. The report also suggested Meta’s own anti-fraud rules were inconsistently applied, with some ads deemed to “violate the spirit” of the company’s policies still being permitted.
“The FTC and SEC should immediately open investigations and, if the reporting is accurate, pursue vigorous enforcement action where appropriate” to compel Meta to relinquish profits, pay penalties, and halt the display of such advertisements, hawley and Blumenthal wrote.
Meta responded to the Reuters report stating they had reduced user reports of scams by 58% over the past 18 months. Though, company spokesperson Andy Stone dismissed the senators’ claims as “exaggerated and wrong,” asserting, “We aggressively fight fraud and scams as people on our platforms don’t want this content, legitimate advertisers don’t want it and we don’t want it either.”
The senators expressed skepticism regarding Meta’s efforts, pointing to examples found within the company’s publicly accessible Ad Library. They cited advertisements for illicit gambling, payment scams, cryptocurrency scams, AI deepfake sex services, and fraudulent offers of federal benefits as evidence.
According to Reuters reporting cited in the letter, Meta estimates its platforms are involved in roughly one-third of all scams occurring in the United States. The FTC estimates Americans lost a total of $158.3 billion to scams in the previous year.
Hawley and Blumenthal also raised concerns about Meta’s staffing levels, noting a reduction in safety personnel, including those responsible for FTC-mandated reviews, while simultaneously investing heavily in generative AI projects. They specifically highlighted the prevalence of fake advertisements falsely representing the U.S. government or political figures, citing an example of a fraudulent ad claiming former President Donald Trump was offering $1,000 to food assistance recipients.
The senators’ letter further stated that meta continues to run fraudulent deepfake clips despite being warned about them, and identified cybercrime groups based in China, Sri Lanka, vietnam, and the Philippines as frequent beneficiaries of these scams.
