On February 4, the Australian Consumer and Competition Watchdog (ACCC) is investigating Meta over cryptocurrency scam ads. The ACCC says Meta allows cryptocurrency scammers to defraud victims of hundreds of thousands of dollars in breach of Australian consumer laws.
ACCC chairman Rod Sims said in comments to The Australian on February 3 that while their investigation had similarities to Forrest’s case, “the ACCC’s investigation is separate and addresses different legal issues”.
Forrest’s case involved potential breaches of Australian federal criminal law, and the ACCC will examine whether Meta breached Australian consumer law. Yesterday, Australian resource mining billionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest took Meta to court, accusing it of violating local anti-money laundering laws by failing to block false cryptocurrency advertisements on its platform.