---
title: "Santa Clara County sues Meta over scam ads on Facebook and Instagram"
url: https://daily.dev/posts/santa-clara-county-sues-meta-over-scam-ads-on-facebook-and-instagram-funlbud5k
source_url: https://thenextweb.com/news/santa-clara-county-meta-scam-ads-lawsuit
type: article
source: "The Next Web"
published: 2026-05-11T16:22:20.035Z
updated: 2026-05-11T16:22:47.580Z
tags: ["social-media"]
reading_time: 2
upvotes: 0
comments: 0
language: en
---

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# Santa Clara County sues Meta over scam ads on Facebook and Instagram

**[The Next Web](https://daily.dev/sources/tnw)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments

## Summary

Santa Clara County has filed a lawsuit against Meta in California state court, alleging the company knowingly profits from scam advertisements on Facebook and Instagram. The complaint claims Meta earns up to $7 billion annually from ads bearing clear signs of fraud, that it blocked internal scam-reduction efforts deemed too costly, and that it allowed middlemen to sell enforcement-protected ad accounts. The suit draws on internal Meta documents reported by Reuters in late 2025, which suggested over 10% of Meta's 2024 revenue could come from scam ads and banned goods. The county seeks restitution for California residents, civil damages, and an injunction. This case is part of a broader wave of legal and regulatory challenges against Meta's ad platform, including a Consumer Federation of America class-action and inquiries from Japanese, UK, and Australian regulators.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://thenextweb.com/news/santa-clara-county-meta-scam-ads-lawsuit>

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