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SOCIAL MEDIA

Meta gets itself in more hot water in both US and Australia

By our News Team | 2022

A US court has okayed a class-action lawsuit over claims of inflated advertising metrics. Aussie’s consumer watchdog is going to court too.

A US lawsuit that accuses Facebook of deceiving advertisers is to be allowed to go ahead as a class action following a ruling in a District Court in San Francisco.

By agreeing to a class action, the ruling allows potentially millions of businesses and individuals who paid for advertising to sue the parent company, Meta, as a group. Instagram, which is owned by Meta, is also being included in the lawsuit.

The claims that are being made date back to August 2014, before the Facebook business rebranded to Meta, and accuse the social media giant of inflating its claims about advertising reach. 

According to the case made by the original complainants (who may now be joined by others as a result of the class-action ruling), executives at Facebook knew that the ‘potential reach’ metric was inflated by as much as 400%, yet did nothing to rectify the situation and preferred to cover it up.

Social Media

Image by Succo from Pixabay

The estimation of potential reach can be skewed by various factors, including duplicate and fake social media accounts.

Meta is trying to have the lawsuit dismissed, and this application will be heard in court later this year.

Aussie consumer watchdog snaps at Meta

The social media company continues to be involved in various disputes around the world. For example, last month the national consumer watchdog in Australia announced it was launching legal action against Meta, alleging it allowed scam ads to target Facebook users with fake celebrity endorsements. 

In a statement, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) claimed the ads used Facebook’s algorithms to target susceptible users and included false quotes claimed to have been made by Australian celebrities.

“The essence of our case is that Meta is responsible for these ads that it publishes on its platform,” ACCC chairman Rod Sims said.

“In one shocking instance, we are aware of a consumer who lost more than A$650,000 (US$480,000) due to one of these scams being falsely advertised as an investment opportunity on Facebook. This is disgraceful.”

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Dr Kin Kariisa

Group CEO - Next Media

Dr. Kin Kariisa is an extraordinary force at the helm of Next Media Services, a conglomerate encompassing NBS TV, Nile Post, Sanyuka TV, Next Radio, Salam TV, Next Communication, Next Productions, and an array of other influential enterprises. His dynamic role as Chief Executive Officer exemplifies his unwavering commitment to shaping media, business, and community landscapes.
With an esteemed academic journey, Dr. Kariisa’s accolades include an Honorary PhD in exemplary community service from the United Graduate College inTexas, an MBA from United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya, a Master’s degree in Computer Engineering from Huazong University in China, and a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics from Makerere University.
Dr. Kariisa pursued PhD research in Computer Security and Identity Management at Security of Systems Group, Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands. As a dynamic educator, he has shared his expertise as a lecturer of e-Government and Information Security at both Makerere University and Radboud University.

Dr Kin did his PhD research in Computer Security and Identity Management at Security of Systems Group, Radbond University in Nigmegen, Netherlands. He previously served as a lecturer of e-Government and Information Security at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda and Radbond University in Netherlands.

Dr Kin did his postgraduate courses in Strategic Business Management, Strategic Leadership Communication and Strategies for Leading Successful Change Initiatives at Harvard University, Boston USA.

  • Other current and previous roles played by Dr Kin Kariisa:
  • Lecturer of e-Government and Information Security to graduate students at Makerere University, Kampala and Radbond University in the Netherlands
  • Director of Eco Bank Uganda Limited, one of the largest banks in Africa
  • Chairman of the National Association of Broadcasters, an umbrella industry association for all Television, Radio and online broadcasters in Uganda.
  • Chairman of Board of Directors of Nile Hotel International, that owns the leading hotel in Uganda, Kampala Serena Hotel.
  • Chairman of Board of Directors of Soliton Telmec Uganda, the leading telecom company in Optic fibre business managing over 80% of optic fibre in Uganda.