Facebook has another problem. The Australian billionaire has brought serious charges against him. There will be a criminal trial

After the financial results for the last quarter announced last night from Wednesday to Thursday, Facebook ran into huge trouble. The company’s revenues are not bad, but investors were furious with the fact that the social network lost users for the first time in its 18-year history. Currently, it is used by 1.929 billion people, which is one million less than in the third quarter of 2021.

This resulted in gigantic drops on the stock exchange, and on one day Meta (the owner of Facebook) lost over 20 percent. its capitalization, which lowered the market value of the giant by well over 200 billion dollars.

Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest accuses Facebook

Now we find out that Facebook has another problem. Andrew Forrest, an Australian billionaire, mining magnate and former CEO and current president of the Australian mining company Fortescue Metals Group, filed a criminal complaint with the prosecution by Facebook and previously sued the platform himself in civil proceedings.

According to Forrest, the social network was supposed to break Australian laws on counteracting money laundering through cryptocurrency scams. Forrest also accuses Facebook of being passive in the fraudsters’ use of the billionaire’s image.

False ads with an image of Forrest make life easier for fraudsters

The case started in early 2019, when fake ads from scammers appeared on Facebook. They encouraged users to allegedly invest in cryptocurrencies, and to make the scam credible, cybercriminals used the image of Forrest and other famous people.

The billionaire then publicly appealed to Facebook for decisive action to block fake ads unlawfully exploiting his image. He stated in a letter sent in November 2019 to the platform’s authorities that it makes the lives of fraudsters easier, and called the practice of using his image in frauds “disgusting”. He also asked Mark Zuckerberg rhetorically if “advertising income is more important to him than saving the lives of older people”.

Internet fraud is millions of dollars. Forrest’s Lawyers Cite “Public Interest”

According to Forrest, Facebook did not take sufficient steps then, which is why the billionaire decided to refer the matter to legal action. Forrest’s lawyers reported and Australian Attorney General Michaelia Cash agreed to the opening of criminal proceedings.

According to Steven Lewis, an attorney at Forrest’s law firm, Cash agreed to investigate because online scams “cost Australians millions of dollars each year and many of the victims are vulnerable,” so there is a “public interest” in countering them – Go to court in the state of Western Australia has already faced charges against Facebook, and Preliminary auditions are to take place on March 28.

Forrest does not give up on Facebook. Meta defends itself that it is doing what it can

Meta, the conglomerate that owns Facebook, did not respond to the reports of the opening of proceedings in Australia. However, he says Meta is doing its best to “detect and reject these types of advertisements, and block such advertisers from accessing the services.” The representative of Meta noted that in some cases the company itself takes legal action against fraudsters.

Earlier in 2021, Forrest filed a civil lawsuit against Facebook in a court in California (Meta’s headquarters is located there). The case has not yet been completed.