Facebook Facing Criminal Charge Over Crypto Scam

As if Facebook didn’t already have enough on its plate. After seeing its cryptocurrency dreams come to a sudden end, the social media giant is now facing a massive lawsuit from Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest, who claims that the company did nothing to prevent a crypto scam featuring his likeness from affecting users.

Facebook Isn’t Doing So Well

Australia is working hard to remove any safe harbor protections that currently apply to social media companies. Enterprises like Facebook and Twitter have been using the same excuse for years. They censor information and change the news when it fits their needs. They also block people that express certain views, largely conservative views, yet when they’re called out on these tactics, they often say that they are simply social media platforms rather than journalistic or news companies, and thus they should not be subjected to the same rules. They are controlling “misinformation.”

These firms have been getting away with moves like this for years, and it looks like Australia and other regions have had enough. Forrest is the founder and chairman of the mining company Fortescue Metals. He claims that a crypto scam featuring his likeness that began on Facebook spread throughout the internet world. He says the social media firm did little to nothing to prevent the scam from occurring, and thus the company is in breach of present anti-money laundering laws.

In an interview, Forrest commented:

This action is being taken on behalf of those everyday Australians – mums and dads, grans and grandads – who work all their lives to gather their savings and to ensure those savings aren’t swindled away by scammers. I’m acting here for Australians, but this is happening all over the world.

This will be the second criminal case thrown in Facebook’s direction. The company initially faced a criminal charge in 2019 due to its data management practices. The Magistrates Court of Western Australia is set to begin hearing the case in late March of this year. Granted the social media company is found guilty, it will likely face heavy fines and be made to change its handling of third-party advertising.

In addition to the criminal charges, Forrest is also bringing a civil suit against Facebook.

Crypto and Facebook Don’t Seem to Go Together

The company has been having a hard time as of late, and the world of crypto has not been kind to the social media firm. Recently, Facebook announced that it was ending its Libra/ Diem digital currency project, and that all digital assets it presently owned had been sold to a private bank.

In addition, it was recently reported that the wealth of Mark Zuckerberg – the main executive behind the company – had dropped more than $29 billion in a single day due to a massive stock tumble that the firm experienced.

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