Reuters shed light on Meta\u2019s lucrative business built on selling fraudulent ads on its platforms \u2014 Facebook and Instagram. Internal company documents obtained by the news agency show that 10.1% of Meta\u2019s 2024 revenue, or US$ 16 billion, came from fraudulent\/scam ads.<\/p>\n
A December 2024 document shows Meta running an average of 15 billion fraudulent ads per day. Those add to 22 billion pieces of suspicious \u201corganic\u201d content (unpaid) \u2014 from hacked profiles offering crypto schemes to promises of miracle cures in groups, and fake listings on Facebook Marketplace.<\/p>\n
Nick Heer did a simple calculation<\/a>, based on the 3.5 billion users Meta claims, to reach an alarming figure: each person using Facebook and\/or Instagram sees on average 10 fraudulent items per day.<\/p>\n Worse, Meta\u2019s algorithmic recommendation system ensures that someone predisposed to falling for scams is bombarded with even more suspicious content and ads.<\/p>\n Given that it\u2019s impossible to block ads on Facebook and Instagram, it wouldn\u2019t be crazy to treat them all as suspicious. And legitimate advertisers who still believe they depend on Meta for business should consider the platforms\u2019 reputation \u2014 which, as the reporting shows, is deserved \u2014 as havens for scammers and a potential reputational risk.<\/p>\n Meta is the prime example of the \u201censhittification\u201d Cory Doctorow describes, in his own words<\/a>. \u201cMeta’s depravity and greed in the face of truly horrifying fraud and scams on its platform is breathtaking.\u201d<\/p>\n In an interview for the Decoder podcast<\/a> around the release of the book that coined the term, Sarah Jeong asks Cory for \u201cthe most iconic example of enshittification,\u201d to which he answers \u201cFacebook.\u201d<\/p>\n That interview predates the Reuters revelations.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Jeff Horwitz\u2019s Reuters investigation is packed with other alarming details:<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n\n