Editorial: Fake HKFP Allan Zeman ads on Facebook, Insta reported to police, as Meta bans legitimate fundraiser vid
Hong Kong Free Press
HKFP and the LKF Group have warned Facebook and Instagram users of fraudulent, paid-for advertisements from a group calling itself Quantum IFex AI on Meta’s platforms. The ads unlawfully mimic the newspaper’s branding and involves fake endorsements from local tycoon and Lan Kwai Fong founder Allan Zeman.
It comes amid a months-long saga in which Meta has banned HKFP’s legitimate fundraising video from its platforms, falsely claiming it to be a political ad.
HKFP has urged readers to report the scam Allan Zeman ads after multiple readers wrote in, whilst LKF Group has reported the matter to the police.
It is not known if there have been any victims of the Quantum IFex AI scam. However, Zeman told HKFP that he was concerned about his image being used in the ads, which have littered social media in Hong Kong for weeks: “This is outrageous and we have to do everything we can to stop this. This kind of irresponsible post is very damaging to my reputation and also to innocent people.”
“The biggest problem is some people will believe those posts are real and innocent people will fall victim and lose money,” he added in a statement on Wednesday.
The ads have remained in circulation throughout November, despite readers and HKFP reporting them as fraudulent.
When asked for a response, a spokesperson for Meta told HKFP on Thursday that they were reviewing the ads: “Meta is constantly tackling the industry-wide issue of scams through a combination of technology, such as new machine learning techniques and specially trained reviewers, to identify content and accounts that violate our policies. When we identify fake accounts or deceptive content or ads, we will remove them as a violation of our policy. We also work closely with law enforcement agencies and regulators to take action against those who violate our policies. We encourage people to use our in-app reporting tools when they see any suspicious activity.”
The function to report such ads on Instagram desktop remained broken on Thursday when HKFP conducted tests using Google Chrome, though the option works on mobile.
Fundraiser ad repeatedly banned
Meanwhile, Meta has repeatedly banned HKFP’s fundraising video from its platforms, despite several dozen emails and calls to over nine support staff since August.
The Meta advertising platform falsely flagged the fundraiser as an “ad about social issues, elections or politics,” saying a disclaimer must be added. However, Hong Kong customers are unable to add disclaimers.
The ban was eventually lifted in September following an HKFP media enquiry to Meta after it locked the account over the false violations. Nevertheless, a fresh upload was immediately banned again last month.
In all, Meta’s ads platform erroneously claims that HKFP promos have violated its policies 16 times in six months, as it barred sponsorship of stories relating to the city’s birth rate, and property developers.
The account remained under restrictions as of Thursday for alleged failure to demonstrate “trustworthiness.” Meta did not give an on-the-record response to HKFP’s enquiries.
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