Frankfurt Court Orders Meta to Actively Remove Fake Investment Ads

In a case brought by the personal finance platform Finanzfluss and its founder Thomas Kehl, the Frankfurt Regional Court held Meta accountable for removing fraudulent profiles and advertisements that impersonated Kehl's image and name. The illegal ads directed users to closed WhatsApp groups, also owned by Meta, where scam investment offers were promoted. Meta had argued it was not responsible for user-generated content provided it acted on reports, but the court determined that the company's algorithm decides which ads appear and profits from them, making it a non-neutral platform.

Consequently, Meta must filter out such fake content before it is displayed, and failure to do so could lead to direct legal action by Finanzfluss. The ruling also requires Meta to disclose the revenue generated from the offending ads. While the judgment is not yet final and Meta may appeal, the plaintiff described it as a historic decision with broader implications.