The Wall Street Journal reports that Facebook and Instagram are still running ads that promote online marketplaces for illegal drugs — including cocaine, hallucinogens, and prescription opioids — months after the publication first noted that Meta was facing a federal investigation for doing so.
Meta says it will continue working with law enforcement, and will “invest resources and further improve our enforcement” to combat this type of activity.
According to IDC research, the rise of domestic smartphone brands has knocked Apple out of the top five spot. Apple, which now sits in sixth place, saw a 3.1 percent year-on-year decline even as the Chinese market grew by 8.9 percent. At least it’s doing better than Samsung which doesn’t even get a mention, despite dominating sales in the region a decade ago.
Reuters reports that Meta could be slapped with fines as high as $13.4 billion for tying classified advertisements service Marketplace with its Facebook social network.
The ruling, which is expected in the coming weeks, would come over 18 months since the European Commission accused Meta of “abusive practices” that enabled it to distort competition in the online classified ads market.
