Polish Minister for Digitalization Krzysztof Gawkowski has requested that the European Commission fine Meta Platforms, which owns the social network Facebook, €250 million for, as he stated, insufficiently preventing harmful advertisements and failing to control scams, illegal applications, and other harmful content.
“I have submitted an official request for Meta to be fined €250 million. We will not tolerate passivity and inefficiency in how they remove content that harms Poles. There is more than enough evidence,” Gawkowski announced today on the X network.
The minister emphasized that there is extensive documentation for all of this; in the analyzed period, out of 122 reported cases of harmful content, Meta dismissed 106, meaning 86 percent of reports were resolved as unfounded, removed only 10, and ignored six cases from that period.
“I call on Meta to urgently introduce effective tools to eliminate fraudulent advertisements and the promotion of illegal applications. This Wild West on the networks must stop,” Gawkowski said.
The Polish minister expressed hope that the European Commission would respond quickly.
“Digital platforms must be held accountable for their actions,” the Polish minister said.
The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) in May filed a complaint with the European Commission and other relevant authorities against Meta, Google, and the TikTok network for not taking sufficient and adequate measures to prevent advertisements and commercials that are financial scams and often use the likenesses of well-known politicians, prime ministers, and presidents who allegedly advise citizens to invest their money somewhere.
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