Union files lawsuit to force Facebook and Instagram to crack down on scams using government brands
- Rafaela Campos da Silva
- 2 days ago
- 1 min read
SBT News - April 28, 2025
The Attorney General's Office (AGU) filed a public civil lawsuit in court on Monday (28), demanding that big tech Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, take action to remove virtual scams from platforms that use federal government brands.
According to the AGU, the government identified scams on Meta's social media channels that improperly used official symbols and brands, as well as images and videos of public authorities.
For this reason, the federal agency believes that Meta's content verification system is inefficient, even contravening the company's own terms of use. To support its argument, the government cites European Union regulations that demonstrate the company's ability to remove such content.
In the lawsuit, the AGU is asking for the company to be sentenced for collective moral damages for violating legal standards for consumer protection against misleading advertising. If the case continues in court, the amount obtained will be allocated to the Fund for the Defense of Diffuse Rights.
This figure should include the 1,770 fraudulent advertisements identified by the government on Facebook and Instagram. The survey is the result of a study by the Internet and Social Network Studies Laboratory of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Netlab/UFRJ), carried out between January 10 and 21, 2025.
