Facebook faces penalty for failing to block scam ads with Big Brother image

Facebook Inc suffered a blow as a Dutch judge imposed a penalty payment for each time it fails to block cryptocurrency ads improperly using the image of the originator of the Big Brother television franchise.
The company must pay 10,000 euros ($11,000) each time the posts using the image of John de Mol appear, up to a maximum of 1 million euros, an Amsterdam court ruled Monday. Facebook said it is considering its options, including an appeal.
Facebook doesn’t have the technology to completely prevent fraudulent ads on its platforms, its attorney, Jens van den Brink, said at a hearing two weeks ago. Because webpages are constantly changing, the social media site argued, it’s hard to target individual advertisements. Similar scam ads have been on Linkedin Corp., eBay Inc. and Alphabet Inc’s Google, showing how difficult a ban would be, he added.
“De Mol seeks a perfecting filter that doesn’t exist,” van den Brink said.
While it might be hard to stop the ads, the court concluded that it is Facebook’s responsibility to take measures “even if that is not technically easy.” A filter could also lead to overblocking of real posts, the court said, but “the risk of any unwanted overblocking of legitimate advertisements does not outweigh the seriousness of the problem.” Read More