Facebook has recently filed a lawsuit against a Chinese malware operator for ad fraud. As revealed, the tech giant believes that the Chinese firm abused Facebook’s ad platform for targeting users with malware.
Facebook Sued Chinese Ad Firm
Reportedly, Facebook has sued a shady Chinese firm and malware operators for ad fraud. The news surfaced online through a post from two Facebook Directors, Jessica Romero (Director Platform Enforcement and Litigation) and Rob Leathern (Director of Product Management, Business Integrity).
As disclosed, Facebook filed a lawsuit against the Chinese firm ILikeAd Media International Company Ltd, and two individuals Chen Xiao Cong and Huang Tao. The perpetrators would trick people via ‘celeb bait’ to click on a malicious advertisement. Then, they targeted users with malware and abused their accounts to display deceptive ads.
In some cases, they also made use of ‘cloaking’ schemes, regarding which, Facebook stated,
Through cloaking, the defendants deliberately disguised the true destination of the link in the ad by displaying one version of an ad’s landing page to Facebook’s systems and a different version to Facebook users.
Facebook Wishes To Teach Real-World Lesson
According to the post, Facebook took this step to set an example by striking a real-world consequence to the perpetrators. Facebook deems such steps necessary to protect their platform from possible abuse.
Creating real-world consequences for those who deceive users and engage in cloaking schemes is important in maintaining the integrity of our platform.
The firm also pledge to fend off abusers and other perpetrators who attempt to target users via exploiting Facebook.
To protect Facebook users and disrupt these types of schemes, we will continue our work to detect malicious behavior directed towards our platform and enforce against violations of our Terms and Policies.
Certainly, amidst all the chaos regarding Facebook blunders and malpractices, such moves might help the firm build a credible stance among the users. Nonetheless, they also need to work towards their monetization policies, particularly for advertisers.
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