The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Thursday issued orders to eight social media and video streaming companies, including Meta, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Snap, Twitch, Pinterest and Instagram, to provide information about how these platforms how to screen misleading content for infomercials.
The companies are reportedly required to provide information on ad revenue and view counts, including those in the more gullible product and service categories.
The FTC is seeking to review and limit paid commercials that are deceptive or expose consumers to fraudulent health care products, financial scams, counterfeit goods or other fraudulent practices.
Social media has been a gold mine for scammers peddling counterfeit products and other scams that have cost consumers dearly in recent years,” said Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. This study will help the FTC ensure that social media and video streaming companies do everything they can to keep scammers and deceptive ads off their platforms.”
The order comes after the FTC also asked Twitter to turn over some internal communications related to owner Elon Musk, as well as other details about business decisions, as part of its investigation earlier this month.
