Meta sues Brazil, China advertisers over celebrity deepfake scams

Facebook's Meta logo sign is seen at the company headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., on, Oct. 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

BRASÍLIA, Brazil -- U.S. tech giant Meta filed lawsuits Thursday against several individuals and companies in Brazil and China who used celebrity deepfakes to advertise products on its platforms, the company said in a statement.

AI technology is allowing criminals around the world to create sophisticated voice and video copies of well-known figures to endorse scam investments, and helping make dodgy online messages appear more genuine.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, filed “lawsuits against four scam advertisers who impersonated well-known celebrities and brands to deceive and defraud people,” the statement said.

In Brazil, the firm sued B&B Suplementos e Cosmeticos and Brites Academia de Treinamento as well as two individuals for “a scam operation that used deepfakes of a prominent physician to advertise healthcare products without regulatory approval.”

Brites also “sold courses teaching the same tactics,” according to Meta.

Renowned Brazilian oncologist Drauzio Varella was one of the public figures impersonated by Brites, and stated that Meta’s legal actions are insufficient.

It’s “a drop in the ocean of fraud against public health,” the doctor told the O Globo newspaper.

Varella said Meta’s platforms were “partners in the fraud” because of their reach.

“They earn billions by spreading this and ensuring the video reaches as many people as possible,” he told the newspaper.

The US company also sued Vitor Lourenco de Souza and Milena Luciani Sanchez for similar practices in Brazil.

In China, Meta sued Shenzhen Yunzheng Technology over “celeb-bait ads to target people in the US and Japan, among other countries, as part of a larger fraud scheme that lured people into joining so-called investment groups,” the company said.

The tech giant also sued Vietnamese company Ly Van Lam for publishing fraudulent advertisements for Longchamp luxury handbags.