Poland has asked the European Commission to impose a €250 million ($291 million) fine on Meta, escalating pressure on the Facebook and Instagram owner over what Warsaw says is a persistent failure to remove fraudulent advertisements targeting users.
This is coming days after Meta Platforms agreed to pay as much as $16.68 billion and introduce significant changes to Facebook and Instagram to settle allegations by 29 U.S. states that the company designed its platforms to encourage addictive use among children, misled consumers about their safety, and improperly collected children’s personal information.
Polish Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said on Wednesday that he had formally requested EU intervention after repeated complaints from Polish authorities failed to produce what he described as an adequate response from the social media giant.
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“Despite repeated reports from the relevant Polish authorities and teams responsible for cybersecurity, Meta still does not provide an effective and adequate response to fraudulent advertisements,” Gawkowski said in a post on X.
The move adds to growing regulatory scrutiny of large technology platforms across Europe, where authorities are increasingly holding social media companies accountable not only for illegal content but also for financial scams, impersonation schemes and deceptive advertising that proliferate on their platforms.
According to a letter sent to the European Commission, tests conducted by CERT Polska, Poland’s national cybersecurity incident response team, identified 122 advertisements it classified as fraudulent.
The findings painted a troubling picture of Meta’s enforcement efforts. Of the advertisements reported to the company, 106, or nearly 87%, were allowed to remain online after review, while only 10 were removed. Six cases reportedly received no response.
“In 106 cases, or 86.8% of reports, Meta concluded the case with a decision not to remove the advertisement. Only 10 ads were removed, and in six cases no response was provided,” Gawkowski said.
The minister also called on Meta to deploy stronger mechanisms to detect and eliminate scams, misleading promotions and advertisements for illegal applications before they reach users.
Social media companies are increasingly being confronted by a common challenge. While advances in artificial intelligence have made it easier to detect harmful content at scale, scammers have simultaneously become more sophisticated, frequently using AI-generated images, cloned identities and fabricated endorsements to impersonate public figures, businesses and government institutions.
Poland has emerged as one of the most vocal European critics of Meta’s handling of online fraud. The issue gained prominence after a series of fake advertisements used the likenesses of prominent Polish business leaders and public figures to promote fraudulent investment schemes.
One of the highest-profile cases involved billionaire entrepreneur Rafa? Brzoska, founder of parcel locker operator InPost, who sued Meta over fake advertisements that allegedly misused his image.
That legal battle culminated in a significant ruling earlier this year when a Warsaw appellate court held that Meta bears responsibility for advertisements appearing on its platforms. The decision marked a setback for Meta, which has consistently argued that it should not be held liable for fraudulent actions carried out by individual users and advertisers.
The ruling could have implications beyond Poland, potentially strengthening efforts across Europe to hold digital platforms more accountable for harmful or deceptive advertising.
The European Commission now faces pressure to determine whether Meta’s handling of scam advertisements breaches obligations under the European Union’s digital regulatory framework. A penalty of €250 million would rank among the more significant financial sanctions sought by an EU member state against a major technology company over content moderation and consumer protection issues.
The dispute comes amid Meta’s continued regulatory challenges in Europe, where lawmakers and courts have focused on platform accountability, online safety and the effectiveness of content moderation systems.
The case also highlights a growing shift in regulatory priorities. While earlier scrutiny of social media companies centered on privacy, competition and misinformation, authorities are now focusing on financial harm to users, particularly as online investment scams and fraudulent advertising campaigns become more sophisticated and widespread.
The European Commission has not yet indicated whether it will pursue the penalty requested by Poland. However, Warsaw’s intervention signals that national governments are becoming less willing to accept platform assurances and are increasingly seeking financial consequences when enforcement efforts are viewed as inadequate.