Government fines Meta R$9.3 million for keeping a false offer about Desenrola on the air

The National Consumer Secretariat (Senacon), linked to the Ministry of Justice, announced that it fined R$9.3 million to the company Meta, owner of Facebook, for running “sponsored and fraudulent advertising” about Desenrola Brasil. In a statement, the agency stated that the company had been notified to remove illicit content about the program in July this year.

Senacon set the fine at R$150,000 per day that false advertisements about the program were maintained after notification. The decision is this Thursday (16). “In the period from July 26th to September 26th, exactly 62 days, more than two thousand active fraudulent advertisements were identified, with illicit content relating to the initiative. The application of the fine was defined by non-compliance with the precautionary measure, which determined the removal of fraudulent posts,” said Senacon.

As a result, the amount to be charged reaches R$9.3 million. The irregular posts were detected in a survey by the Laboratory for Internet and Social Network Studies (Netlab/UFRJ), which found more than two thousand advertisements with fraud relating to Desenrola on Facebook, from 115 advertisers and 46 websites.

“It is unacceptable that government programs continue to be distorted due to the dissemination of fake news. Since its launch, the Desenrola Brasil program has been the target of absolutely false news that guides people towards real scams to their detriment. People start to pay their debts, and, in fact, they are not paying any debt”, said the National Consumer Secretary, Wadih Damous, in a note released by the ministry.

According to Senacon, “even with the imposition of a fine, until now, Meta has not demonstrated the adoption of appropriate measures to prevent such broadcasts”. The agency warned that, if infractions persist, the company could receive more serious punishments.