The Facebook and Instagram logos displayed on a smartphone with the Meta Platforms logo pictured in the background.
Igor Golovniov | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images
LONDON — British digital bank Starling says it is boycotting Facebook parent company Meta over its failure to tackle fraudulent financial adverts.
Anne Boden, Starling’s CEO and founder, said her firm would no longer pay for advertising on Facebook and Instagram while scammers were targeting its customers.
Boden has been pressuring the U.K. government to address financial fraud in the Online Safety Bill, a sweeping set of legislation that seeks to tackle the spread of harmful content on digital platforms.
The Online Safety Bill would place a duty of care on Big Tech companies such as Meta and Google, requiring them to take action against harmful and illegal material. Companies that fail to do so would risk facing penalties of £18 million ($24 million) or 10% of their annual global revenues, whichever amount is higher.
Last month, a committee of lawmakers scrutinizing the bill recommended that the new legislation should cover scam ads. The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority has previously raised the alarm about adverts promoting investment scams. These include cryptocurrency scammers using the images of celebrities to defraud consumers, for example.
In August, Google stopped accepting ads for financial services unless the advertiser was authorized by the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority, or qualified…
