Thailand’s Consumer Council (TCC) has become the latest organisation to increase pressure on Meta over the spread of scam advertisements on its platforms.
This move reflects a broader global trend in which regulators and public bodies are demanding that the social media giant clean up its services and prevent the distribution of illegal or harmful content — ranging from black-market gambling to various forms of fraud.
According to The Nation, the TCC has filed a lawsuit against Meta, alleging that the company allows scam advertisements and online fraud to circulate without adequate control.
The organisation claims that Facebook continues to host a significant volume of fraudulent ads, including gambling-related promotions, and that the platform’s algorithms effectively help scammers target specific user groups, resulting in substantial financial losses.
The lawsuit calls for Meta to be held accountable for the advertising content displayed on its platforms, as well as for stronger consumer protections — including stricter pre-screening of ads and the creation of a compensation mechanism for victims.
Meta continues to face criticism for insufficient action against scam advertising across its platforms.
A Reuters investigation published in November found that, according to the company’s internal estimates, around 10% of its 2024 annual revenue — approximately $16 billion — was generated from ads linked to scams and banned goods.
Pressure from the banking sector in the UK
Earlier this week, the head of fraud prevention at Lloyds Bank also criticised the platform’s social impact, noting that two-thirds of fraud reports received by the UK’s largest bank are linked to Meta users.
At the same time, legal pressure is mounting: law firms Richardson Hartley Law and Humphries Kerstetter have announced the formation of a group legal claim in the UK on behalf of victims who lost money after engaging with scam ads on Facebook or Instagram.
In the gambling sector, regulators have also repeatedly identified Meta as a major source of illegal advertising, amid growing concerns over the expansion of the “black market”.
Earlier this year, Tim Miller, Executive Director of the UK Gambling Commission, accused the tech giant of effectively turning a blind eye to illegal advertising in order to “continue taking money from criminals and scammers”.
Ella Seijsener, Director of Licensing and Supervision at the Dutch regulator Kansspelautoriteit, also strongly criticised Meta and TikTok, saying they are doing “far from enough” to tackle the surge in illegal advertising. She noted that in May alone, the regulator was forced to send around 26,000 complaints to Meta related to unlawful ads.
In a comment to the Sunday Times following Lloyds Bank’s findings, a Meta spokesperson said that scammers are organised criminals using “increasingly sophisticated methods to deceive users and evade detection systems on our platforms”.
The company added: “We fight scams both on and off our platforms because they are not beneficial to us or to the people and businesses who rely on our services.”
Pressure on Meta continues to build, with the company increasingly at the centre of political debate in the UK. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is considering restrictions on social media use for under-16s, a move that prompted a response from Donald Trump, who effectively defended social platforms.
Overall, the scale of the PR crisis surrounding social media companies is significant, and the latest intervention from the TCC further complicates the situation — particularly in Thailand, where around 90% of social media users are reported to use Facebook.
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