Meta sued for false investment advertisements in Japan

AA / Istanbul / Mohammed Yasin Gungor

The Japanese arm of Facebook parent company Meta faces a lawsuit on Thursday over false investment ads with fake celebrity endorsements.

Four plaintiffs accuse Meta of failing in its duty to assess the harm that could be caused to customers and to verify the authenticity of advertisements on Facebook and Instagram, according to Japanese news agency Kyodo News.

The plaintiffs are seeking 23 million yen ($148,000) in damages, saying they have lost money due to Meta’s negligence.

The ads falsely suggested support from Yusaku Maezawa, founder of an online fashion store, and Hiroyuki Nishimura, an Internet entrepreneur and founder of the popular discussion forum “2channel.”

The plaintiffs transferred money to accounts, thinking they were investing in currency transactions.

In Japan, social networking scams involving the use of personalities’ names without their consent reached 27.8 billion yen ($179 million) in 2023, according to the Japan National Police.

Meta is an American multinational technology conglomerate based in California, owner of Facebook, Instagram and the mobile application WhatsApp.

*Translated from English by Mounir Bennour.

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