Meta has been accused of running corporate ads alongside content that sexualises underage users.
The allegations by Walmart, along with Tinder’s parent company Match Group, were made public as part of a lawsuit filed by the New Mexico attorney general’s office last month.
Why we care Placing ads alongside illegal content poses a serious threat to brand safety. The potential consequences not only include reputational damage, but also significantly decrease the chances of an ad reaching its target audience, likely causing a significant impact on ROI.
The claim New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez has accused Meta of “allowing adults to find, send and prepare minors” for sexual exploitation. He said in a statement:
“New evidence indicates that Meta officials are misleading corporate advertisers and allowing sponsored content to appear alongside deeply disturbing images and videos that clearly violate Meta’s promised standards.” “Mr. Zuckerberg and Meta refuse to be honest and transparent about what is happening on Meta’s platforms.”
The party reacts. Match reportedly told Meta that ads on its dating apps were running alongside “disturbing” and “clearly illegal” content, including graphic films of murdered women, reports the guardian. When Meta allegedly failed to take action, Match CEO Bernard Kim wrote a complaint directly to Mark Zuckerberg, but he allegedly did not respond.
Walmart responds. Meta filed a complaint with Meta in October, alleging that the social media giant’s “level of attention/consideration” to brand safety had “disappeared.” In response to the court filing, a Walmart spokesperson said in a statement:
“We take brand safety issues very seriously and protecting our customers and communities will always be a priority.”
What Meta says. A Meta spokesperson told Search Engine Land:
“We don’t want that kind of content on our platforms and brands don’t want their ads appearing next to it.” “We continue to invest aggressively to stop this and report quarterly on the prevalence of this content, which remains very low.” “Our systems are effective at reducing infringing content, and we’ve invested billions in security and brand compliance solutions.”
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deep dive. Read the New Mexico Department of Justice announcement in full for more information.
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