Meta Platforms—Leaked internal documents revealed Meta projected 10% of revenue (~$16 billion) came from scam and banned-product ads
Reuters obtained internal Meta documents showing the company displayed approximately 15 billion 'higher risk' scam advertisements per day, generating an estimated $16 billion annually (10% of revenue). Documents revealed Meta set 'revenue guardrails' limiting fraud enforcement to 0.15% of revenue (~$135M), and executives proposed focusing fraud control only on countries with imminent regulatory action. Internal documents showed Meta was involved in 1 in 3 U.S. frauds. Meta also developed a 'playbook' to manage regulatory perception of scam ads.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer Protection | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Corporate Transparency | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Deceptive Lobbying | +toward | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.381 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.57)× agency (negligent ×0.5)
Evidence (1 signal)
Reuters obtained internal Meta documents showing $16B revenue from scam ads and deliberate enforcement limits
Reuters obtained internal Meta documents revealing the company displayed ~15 billion higher-risk scam ads per day, generating $16 billion annually. Documents showed Meta set 'revenue guardrails' limiting enforcement to 0.15% of revenue, required 95% fraud confidence before banning advertisers, and projected maximum fines ($1B) were far below scam ad revenue ($3.5B per six months). Executives proposed selective enforcement only in regulated markets.