The advertising watchdog has voted to expel Meta as a member for not doing enough against scam ads.
Meta has been expelled from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAD) Sweden for not doing enough to prevent fraudulent ads.
“The board’s argument remains – Meta’s work against deceptive ads is not enough,” said Daniel Wailar, chair of IAB Sweden. “IAB Sweden will continue to push for improvements to the advertising environment and continue to work for good marketing practices.”
The decision replaces an earlier vote from 10 March, whereby the board voted to allow the tech giant to continue as a member on the condition they were not given a board seat.
However, the board later determined that it could not create such a condition and called an extraordinary meeting, where they voted to exclude Meta as a IAB Sweden member.
Wailar added: “Meta will now have to present evidence in order to be able to re-enter as a member.”
The social media firm also has the opportunity to appeal the board’s decision to IAB Sweden’s annual general meeting on 15 April.
Meta has been at the centre of multiple scam and fraudulent ads. In Sweden, there have been reports of celebrities or public figures in fake ads on Meta’s platforms. Bonnier News, Schibsted and Aller Media – Swedish media companies – have all been campaigning to stop the misuse of media brands.
An investigation by Reuters allegedly found the company to have earnt billions of dollars from running such ads.
Leaked documents revealed that over the past three years, Meta “failed to identify and stop an avalanche of ads that exposed billions of users across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to “fraudulent e-commerce and investment schemes, illegal online casinos and the sale of banned medical products”.
Although Meta recently filed multiple lawsuits against advertisers for scam and fraudulent ads, this move from IAB Sweden could set a precedent for other European bodies to demand higher advertising standards from big tech.
