Presenters Divya Das and Kim Bilsoe Lassen are taking action after their images appeared in a fraudulent ad on Facebook.
advertisementTwo popular Danish celebrities have reported Facebook's parent company Meta to the police after discovering that their images and words had been manipulated and abused in thousands of Facebook ads.
Divya Das and Kim Bildsøe Lassen are both Danish television hosts. The married journalists only became aware of the unauthorized use of their images after being contacted by a friend.
The ads appear as news articles, often promoting fake investment advice and encouraging people to click on links that will lead them to fake investment companies and invite them to invest their funds.
“Things are getting wilder, rougher, wilder and more transgressive,” Das told Euronews.
“I think the worst thing about this is that Meta doesn't seem to be doing anything about it. My clear impression is that Meta can do it. It's hard, sure, but it can be done. It should be.”
The presenters are not the only Danish celebrities to appear in manipulated Facebook ads.
According to independent Danish fact-checking website Tjeklt, images of 49 Danish people have been used in false advertising over the past six years.
Denmark's Minister for Digital Government and Gender Equality Marie Bjerre harshly criticized Meta on the issue, telling local Danish television that the “identity violations” seen on the platform were “serious and illegal.” Ta.
“I encourage anyone who has been exposed to the virus to call the police, and I encourage Big Tech to be responsible adults,” she said.
Mr Bigère called for EU legislation to ensure platforms are held accountable for reporting instances of fraudulent advertising.
According to Meta's Transparency Center, which publishes guidelines for the company's community standards, “advertisers may not advertise with content that has been debunked by third-party fact checkers or that violates our community standards. It cannot be published.”
Meta insists that it is impossible to completely rid the internet of misinformation, and that its team is working to tackle fraudulent advertising as comprehensively as possible.
