Yokohama Court Dismisses Suit against Meta over Fake Ads

Yokohama, Oct. 15 (Jiji Press)--Yokohama District Court on Thursday dismissed a damages lawsuit against U.S. social media giant Meta Platforms Inc. and its Japanese unit over fake ads using the names and images of celebrities without permission.

The court in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, was the first to rule on a series of similar lawsuits filed with six district courts across Japan.

The Yokohama lawsuit was filed by six investment fraud victims and one company. They plan to appeal the ruling.

The plaintiffs demanded a total of about 43 million yen in damages, claiming that Meta was aware that fake ads were rampant on its social media platforms, including Facebook, and could have easily removed them, but left them online, allowing people to fall victim to scams.

However, the court found that it was difficult to conclude that Meta could have easily recognized the ads as fraudulent and fake at the time of their publication.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]