Scam Watch Pilipinas underscores the critical necessity for Meta Platforms, Inc., the parent company of Facebook, to urgently address pervasive issues related to scams and misleading content that significantly jeopardize the safety and trust of users in the Philippines.
While social media platforms have revolutionized global connectivity, they have concurrently become fertile ground for scammers, fraudsters, and malicious actors who exploit Meta’s expansive ecosystem. Filipinos are increasingly targeted through deceptive advertisements, cloned pages, phishing links, and deepfakes. These incidents are not isolated but indicative of a broader, systemic failure to protect users, particularly within vulnerable communities.
In light of these pressing concerns, Scam Watch Pilipinas highlights the following 11 critical issues that underscore Meta’s shortcomings in combating scams and misleading content:
1. Proliferation of Scams in Sponsored Posts: Scammers exploit Facebook’s advertising platform to run paid, sponsored posts that appear legitimate. These often mimic well-known brands, promote fake investment opportunities, or offer deceptive giveaways, deceiving users into divulging personal information or funds.
2. Weak Ad Verification and Review System: Meta’s predominantly automated ad review process lacks effective oversight. Scammers can easily bypass it with slight alterations, allowing harmful ads to run for extended periods before being addressed—if at all.
3. Delayed Response to Reported Content: Even when users report scams or misleading posts, Meta’s response is often slow or inconsistent. This delay enables scams to proliferate and reach more users, exacerbating the damage.
4. Inadequate Transparency in Ad Sources: Meta does not provide clear information about the entities behind advertisements. Many scammers use fake pages or stolen identities to run ads, leaving users without an easy way to verify a page’s legitimacy.
5. Clone Pages and Impersonation: Scammers create cloned Facebook pages that mimic real brands, celebrities, or influencers to deceive users. These pages are often used to run scams, yet Meta struggles to detect and remove them proactively.
6. Lack of Education and Warnings for Users: Meta does not provide sufficient scam warnings or alerts. For instance, there are few real-time notifications or educational prompts to warn users about trending scams or guidance on how to spot fake ads.
7. Ineffective Detection of Phishing Links: Many scam posts contain links to phishing websites, yet Facebook’s link detection and filtering mechanisms are not accurate enough. Users can easily be redirected to fraudulent websites that steal credentials or payment information.
8. Algorithm Boosting Harmful Content: Facebook’s algorithms sometimes amplify sensational or emotional content, which scammers exploit to increase the visibility of fake stories, miracle cures, or cryptocurrency scams.
9. Lack of Accountability for Ad Creators: Once a scammer’s page or ad account is banned, they can create a new one with minimal resistance. Meta lacks a robust system for preventing repeat offenders or tracking patterns across multiple fake accounts.
10. Inconsistent Policy Enforcement: Meta’s community standards and ad policies are not enforced uniformly. While harmless content sometimes gets flagged or removed, obvious scams and misleading posts often remain online without consequences.
11. Dismissive Responses to Deepfakes and Scam Reports: When users report deepfake videos or obvious scams, Meta often replies with generic messages stating that the content “does not violate community standards.” This not only frustrates users but also enables scammers to continue exploiting the platform with misleading content. Deepfakes used in fake celebrity endorsements, cryptocurrency scams, or impersonation schemes are particularly harmful, yet Meta’s moderation system fails to recognize or act on them.
These issues are not merely technical or policy-related—they profoundly impact users’ trust and safety. It is imperative for Meta to implement stronger ad oversight, real-time scam detection, and enhanced user education to prevent widespread exploitation.
