[Celebrity Impersonation Scam] Even Reporting 'Fake' Cases Does Nothing... What Are the 'Community Guidelines'?

④Fake Ads That Don't Get Removed Even After Reporting
Pre- and Post-AI Filtering 'Loopholes'
Meta Stands By 'Limitations of Overseas Platforms'
Repeated Lawsuits Abroad... Domestic Class Action Prepared

"I stake my neck on this. Buy it right now!"

Dozens of ‘false advertisements’ featuring celebrities’ faces and provocative phrases were posted on Instagram feeds. Every time I saw one, I clicked ‘Report,’ but two days later, I received a message saying ‘The advertisement has not been removed.’ Meta, the global tech company operating Instagram, informed me, “After review by the responsible team, it was confirmed that Mr./Ms. ○○○’s advertisement does not violate the community guidelines.” Although it was clearly a ‘false advertisement’ using a celebrity’s face and name without permission, when I requested a ‘re-review’ believing the decision was wrong, the response was that ‘there are no violations.’ The same was true for other impersonation ads. The loophole where reports do not lead to removal was clearly noticeable.

Recently, broadcaster Hong Jin-kyung, whose name and face were stolen in false advertisements, urged, “Please do not send money after being deceived by scam ads.” She added, “I hope platforms like Meta and Google strengthen their technology to quickly detect and block scam advertisements.” She repeatedly asked users to be cautious themselves.

Many celebrity victims complain, “Impersonation ads on the platform are particularly persistent and do not disappear.” While other platforms have almost eliminated impersonation ads through active measures, such ads have not decreased on Meta’s platforms. It is said that phishing criminals and artificial intelligence (AI) keep changing names to generate ads, so even if deleted, they do not disappear.

Meta, which operates Instagram and Facebook, is a giant company with advertising revenue of about $131 billion (approximately 176.3568 trillion KRW) last year. Meta’s advertising policies state that they “protect people from fraud or scams.” They define promotion of financial products and services that provide misleading or false information as ‘deceptive content’ and impose restrictions on advertisers who violate this. They also take actions such as account deletion or access restrictions if advertisements are posted using false accounts.

However, in reality, advertisements are not removed unless they violate the ‘community guidelines.’ Meta stated that they conduct pre-review of ads using an ‘automated tool’ before ads are posted, but this system was not functioning smoothly either.

[Image source=Pixabay]

Currently, when impersonation scams occur, the only recourse is for the individual victim to seek remedies. Even if online copyright holders or impersonated celebrities file defamation lawsuits, cooperation with overseas platform operator Meta is not easy. This is why there are calls for establishing dedicated teams within agencies and long-term measures such as international cooperation.

Meta’s passive response is also problematic overseas, where impersonation ads are rapidly increasing. Gina Reinhart, chairperson of resource development company Hancock and Australia’s richest person with assets of $26.5 billion (about 34.15 trillion KRW), personally sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appealing for action against impersonation ads. Australian businessman Andrew Forrest also filed a lawsuit against Meta, claiming Facebook allowed ads impersonating him to spread without intervention.

Meta stated, “We are continuously investing in monitoring personnel and technology,” and promised to launch a campaign soon to prevent celebrity impersonation phishing.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.