Facebook's parent company, Meta, has won an award for its poor performance in tackling scam ads.
Consumer group CHOICE awarded Meta a ‘Shonky’ because it failed to protect Australians from scams.
Last year, Facebook’s social media platforms accounted for 76% of all reported social media scam losses.
Meta was accused of making $44m from networks that were subsequently removed for 'coordinated inauthentic behaviour', including political manipulation and scams.
CHOICE found three suspicious Facebook ads, but when reported to Meta, they remained live for up to four days.
The Shonky Awards highlight product and business practices and were awarded to Meta, NIB, Acerpure, Daily Juice and GroundingWell.
Former government cybersecurity boss Alastair MacGibbon accused social media companies of being “wilfully blind towards criminality on their sites”.
Meta responded to criticism by invoking a US law called Section 230, which gives it immunity from liability for fraudulent ads.
Consumer watchdog the ACCC is pushing for tougher controls on technology giants, including Google, Apple and Amazon, to tackle scams and fraud.
CHOICE has been campaigning for mandatory obligations on social media companies, including Meta, to do more to prevent scams and support scam victims.