A US judge has ordered Meta to explain how its advertising systems enabled 230,000 fraudulent ads featuring Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest’s image to spread across Facebook and its other platforms.
Meta disclosed the figure during a discovery hearing at the US District Court for the Northern District of California on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) as part of Forrest’s legal battle with the tech giant. The US$1.47 trillion (A$2.31 trillion) company must now reveal how its advertising technology permitted such scams.
Forrest’s legal representative, Simon Clarke, welcomed the ruling, stating that Meta had facilitated the dissemination of fraudulent content that financially harmed Australians.
“Meta’s admission confirms what we have long suspected – fraudsters are using its advertising systems at an astonishing scale to exploit innocent Australians, many of whom have lost their life savings,” Clarke said.
“This isn’t just about criminals using the platform to defraud Australians; Meta’s own tools have played a role in amplifying these scams.”
Meta declined to comment.
Judge Virginia K. DeMarchi called the emergency hearing after Meta sought to limit the information provided to Forrest’s legal team. The company attempted to restrict the scope of discovery, proposing limited text-based searches and refusing to fully answer court-ordered interrogatories. However, the judge dismissed these efforts.
Disclosing records
Meta must now disclose electronic records detailing when the scam ads were published and fully explain how its advertising systems manage fraudulent content from creation to distribution.
“Meta’s attempts to limit scrutiny of its role in these scams have been called out by the court,” Clarke said. “We will now get to see how Meta’s own software, algorithms, and artificial intelligence may have actively contributed to perpetrating fraud.”
Forrest has called on the Australian government to intervene.
“It is a bitter irony that it has taken a US judge to force Meta to reveal that there were 230,000 attempts to defraud Australians on its platforms using Dr Forrest’s image,” Clarke said.
“The Australian government must take urgent action to require Meta to submit to the jurisdiction of Australian courts, so that ordinary Australians who have been defrauded can seek compensation in Australia.”
Forrest, who has accused Meta of “knowingly advertising the content of criminals,” first raised concerns about scam ads using his likeness in 2014. Despite personally reaching out to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, he received no response.
Forrest’s image has appeared in five new scam advertisements on Meta’s platforms daily. Meta has attempted to claim legal immunity by citing a 30-year-old US law protecting social media firms from responsibility for user-generated content. Forrest argued that advertisements differ, as Meta profits from them and applies a screening process before publication.
In August, Californian Judge Casey Pitts dismissed Meta’s appeal in what Clarke described as a “crucial victory” in Forrest’s legal battle.
Meta maintains that third parties create scam ads and that it is not liable under current legislation, as it does not produce or promote the content itself.
Financial loss rife
Due to Meta’s inaction, several Australians have suffered significant financial losses. One woman lost A$670,000, another victim was swindled out of A$77,254, and a 72-year-old Western Australian lost A$250,000 with no chance of recovery.
Forrest has also contacted Meta’s Australian managing director, William Easton, who responded: “I appreciate this is very frustrating for you – it’s an extremely challenging, industry-wide problem which we are working to address.”
Another hearing is scheduled for October 31 to address disputes over Meta’s discovery obligations and case management issues.
Texas-based cybersecurity firm Zimperium found that Meta’s platforms—Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp—host significantly more scam activity than rivals such as X and Reddit. Between October and March, it detected 99,690 scam incidents across Meta’s networks, with Facebook accounting for 53,275, WhatsApp 30,612, and Instagram 15,803.
Meta tries to block book promotion
Meanwhile, Meta is also fighting to block its former policy chief, Sarah Wynn-Williams, from promoting her book Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed and Lost Idealism. Wynn-Williams, who worked at the company from 2011 to 2017, claims Meta disregarded the consequences of its growing influence.