Dutch Billionaire Yet Another Victim of Deceptive Crypto Ads, Sues Facebook

[Goodcat49]

Earlier this week, Dutch billionaire John De Mol launched a lawsuit against Facebook over crypto ads using his image without permission.

De Mol claims that consumers have lost as much as 1.7 million euros (over $1.9 million) due to the ads, and his reputation was damaged as a result.

It is not the first time the California-based media giant is being sued over fake bitcoin ads — and, despite Facebook’s efforts to eliminate the problem, it seems that the issue persists.

Brief introduction to Facebook’s relationship with crypto ads
In January 2018, Facebook became the first major social media platform to ban cryptocurrency-related ads.

Notably, the social media giant set a precedent for other big tech companies, including Google and Twitter, which soon followed suit and introduced similar regulations on their platforms.

Specifically, Facebook declared at the time that it would prohibit ads that use “misleading or deceptive promotional practices,” referring specifically to initial coin offerings (ICOs) and cryptocurrencies. Rob Leathern, product management director at Facebook, explained the company’s decision in a blog post:

“We want people to continue to discover and learn about new products and services through Facebook ads without fear of scams or deception. That said, there are many companies who are advertising binary options, ICOs and cryptocurrencies that are not currently operating in good faith.”

The ban was “intentionally broad,” meaning that the social media company decided to ban all cryptocurrency ads on its platforms (namely Facebook, Instagram and Audience networks) first, and then learn how to select the ones that are actually “deceptive.” However, Leathern also mentioned that the company intended to “revisit this policy and how we enforce it.”

https://cointelegraph.com/news/dutch-billionaire-yet-another-victim-of-deceptive-crypto-ads-sues-facebook