FTC Grills Social Media, Streaming Platforms on Misleading Ads — Retail Bum

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued orders to the eight major social media and streaming platforms, including Meta, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube, seeking information on how they scrutinize misleading ads.

According to the FTC, social media has become a hub for fraudulent healthcare products, financial scams, counterfeit and fake goods, and other forms of fraud. In 2022 alone, consumers lost more than $1.2 billion to fraud that started on social media, more than any other contact method.

“Social media has been a gold mine for scammers who tout sham products and other scams that have cost consumers enormously in recent years,” said Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s consumer protection bureau.

“This study will help the FTC ensure that social media and video streaming companies are doing everything they can to keep scammers and deceptive ads off their platforms.”

In addition, FTC has asked social media and video streaming companies to provide information on how they ensure that their customers are able to identify commercial advertising on their platforms as advertising.

Some of the other platforms that are the target of FTC’s investigation include Snap, Amazon-owned Twitch and Pinterest.

The launch of FTC’s investigation comes two weeks after it ordered Twitter to turn over internal communications relating to owner Elon Musk and some of the company’s business decisions.

Originally published at https://retailbum.com on March 20, 2023.