Meta Faces Class Action Suit For ‘Epidemic’ of Counterfeit Ads

Meta Platforms Inc. is facing a class complaint in California federal court for allegedly profiting from an “epidemic” of advertising scams that steal images of copyrighted work by independent artists and small businesses to sell counterfeit products on Facebook.

The 67-page complaint alleged that Facebook “knowingly assists and encourages” counterfeiters on the platform through “powerful ad tools and lax enforcement.”

Counterfeiters will take the images of art pieces from a copyright owner’s website or e-commerce store and use the image in scam ads that are uploaded to Facebook’s ad platform, the complaint said. It was filed on April 22 in ...