Rhode Island has filed a lawsuit against Meta, accusing the company of failing to adequately police scam advertisements on its social media platforms. Attorney General Peter F. Neronha brought the case, which also alleges that Meta has held back from tougher measures because the fraudulent ads generate revenue.
According to the attorney general's office, Rhode Island is the first state to take legal action against the company over the alleged lack of effort on scam ads. Reuters was the first outlet to report on the suit.
Neronha said a company with such broad reach among Rhode Islanders and Americans should treat consumer safety as a top priority. "As alleged, Meta knowingly exposed vulnerable users to fraud and scams, and made enormous profits in doing so," he said. He added that his office would "do everything within our authority to hold them to account" when companies, large or small, take advantage of state consumers.
Meta rejected the characterization. In a statement to Reuters, spokesperson Andy Stone said the company has removed more than 159 million scam ads from its platforms. Stone also said the attorney general declined to talk with Meta about the ways it protects Rhode Islanders from scams, and instead hired an out-of-state private law firm to "concoct a lawsuit that ignores the full range of actions we take to combat scams every day."
The state is not the first party to take Meta to court over the issue. The Consumer Federation of America filed a lawsuit in April, and Santa Clara County in California followed with its own in May.
Pressure on the company has grown since a 2025 Reuters report found that scam advertisements across Meta's networks could be bringing in billions of dollars, potentially as much as 10 percent of its revenue.
Meta has taken some steps against the problem. It has acted to shut down the bad actors behind certain fraudulent ads and has sued the creators of others. Earlier this year, it also introduced additional user protections for suspicious messages.
