San Francisco: Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is facing global criticism after internal documents revealed that the company has been making billions of dollars each year from fraudulent and illegal advertisements circulating on its platforms.

According to an investigation by Reuters, Meta’s internal data suggested that as much as 10 percent of its total annual revenue, roughly 16 billion dollars, could be linked to advertisements promoting scams, illegal gambling, and banned medical products. The findings also indicated that the company’s systems may have shown nearly 15 billion high-risk ads daily across its platforms in 2024.

Despite knowing the scale of the problem, Meta reportedly set limits on how much revenue it was willing to lose in efforts to combat fraudulent content. During the first half of 2025, Meta’s ad quality team was instructed not to take enforcement actions that would cost more than 0.15 percent of its overall revenue, which amounts to about 135 million dollars.

The documents also revealed that Meta only bans advertisers when there is about a 95 percent certainty of fraudulent activity. Those below that threshold are often allowed to continue running ads but face higher advertising costs as penalties.

Meta has announced targets to gradually reduce revenue from fraudulent or illegal ads, aiming to bring the share down from about 10 percent in 2024 to under 6 percent by 2027. However, critics argue that the company’s enforcement system still leaves millions of users vulnerable to scams and false advertisements.

Regulatory authorities across several regions have begun investigating Meta’s ad policies. The European Commission is preparing legal action against the company for failing to control illegal online content, while Singapore has ordered Meta to adopt stronger anti-scam measures under its Online Criminal Harms Act.

Experts say that the revelations raise serious questions about Meta’s priorities and transparency. They warn that the company’s focus on ad revenue, rather than strict enforcement, could undermine public trust in its platforms.

As scrutiny intensifies, Meta is expected to face growing pressure from regulators and governments to overhaul its advertising system and take stronger action against online fraud.