Meta tolerates ad fraud from China

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Meta tolerates ad fraud from China to safeguard revenue

REUTERS/Illustration/Catherine Tai

A Reuters investigation reveals the owner of Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp decided to accept high levels of fraudulent advertisements from China. Internal company documents show Meta wanted to minimize "revenue impact" caused by cracking down on the scams.

The documents are part of a cache of previously unreported material generated over the past four years by teams including Meta's finance, lobbying, engineering and safety divisions. They reveal Meta's efforts over that period to understand the scale of abuse on its platforms and the company's reluctance to introduce fixes that could undermine its business and revenues.

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