US technology giant Meta filed lawsuits on Thursday against several individuals and companies operating in Brazil and China who used celebrity deepfakes to advertise products on its platforms, the company announced in a statement.
Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is enabling criminals worldwide to create sophisticated voice and video replicas of well-known figures to endorse fraudulent investments, while also lending credibility to deceptive online messages.
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 initiated legal proceedings against 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 among the public figures impersonated by Brites. He stated that Meta’s legal actions are insufficient, describing them as “a drop in the ocean of fraud against public health” in comments to the O Globo newspaper.
Varella accused Meta’s platforms of being “partners in the fraud” due to their extensive 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 filed lawsuits against Vitor Lourenco de Souza and Milena Luciani Sanchez for similar practices in Brazil.
In China, Meta took legal action against 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 additionally filed a lawsuit against Vietnamese company Ly Van Lam for publishing fraudulent advertisements for Longchamp luxury handbags.
