Facebook sues Indian techie for running deceptive ads, fake news on coronavirus
New York: Facebook has filed a lawsuit against an Indian man for running a software company that pushed deceptive advertisements and misinformation about coronavirus outbreak on social media platforms by bypassing its advertising review process.
The suit, filed in federal court in California, alleges that Basant
Gajjar's company LeadCloak provided ad-cloaking software designed to sneak fake news and scams related to COVID-19, cryptocurrency, diet pills and more past Facebook and Instagram's automated advertising review process.
Using the name LeadCloak, Gajjar, said to be based in Thailand, violated Facebook Terms and Policies by providing cloaking software and services designed to circumvent automated ad review systems, and ultimately run deceptive ads on Facebook and Instagram, Jessica Romero, Director of Platform Enforcement and Litigation at Facebook said in a statement.
LeadCloak's software also targeted a number of other technology companies including Google, Oath, WordPress, Shopify, and others, Romero said.
Cloaking is a malicious technique that impairs ad review systems by concealing the nature of the website linked to an ad. When ads are cloaked, a company's advertisement review system may see a website showing an innocuous product such as a sweater, but a user will see a different website, promoting deceptive products and services which, in many cases, are not allowed.
In this case, Leadcloak's software was used to conceal websites featuring scams related to global health crisis COVID-19, cryptocurrency, pharmaceuticals, diet pills, and fake news pages. Some of these cloaked websites also included images of celebrities, the social media giant said in the statement.
In addition to the filing, Facebook has taken technical enforcement measures against Leadcloak and accounts that the company has determined have used their software, including disabling personal and ad accounts on Facebook and Instagram. This suit will also further our efforts to identify Leadcloak's customers and take additional enforcement actions against them, the statement added.
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Air pollution: Car now status symbol, people saving money to buy 4-wheelers, says CJI Surya Kant
New Delhi (PTI): Car has become a status symbol, and people are saving money to buy four-wheelers after stopping using bicycles, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said on Tuesday.
The CJI's observation came while hearing a plea related to air pollution in Delhi-NCR.
After senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi suggested that a solution to the problem of air pollution can be achieved by cutting down on people owning multiple cars, CJI Kant said, “Car has become a status symbol… People are saving money to buy cars and have stopped using cycles.”
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During the arguments, Dwivedi said the automobile industry is too powerful.
The CJI said, “The rich people should also sacrifice. Instead of going for high-end vehicles, they should go for good electric vehicles.”
Observing that the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) is failing in its duty, the Supreme Court rapped the central pollution watchdog for seeking a two-month adjournment on the issue of temporary closure or relocation of toll plazas on Delhi borders to ease traffic congestion.
The top court criticised the CAQM for the lack of “seriousness” in its approach, and said that it appears to be in no hurry in either identifying the causes of the worsening air quality index (AQI) or finding long-term solutions.
The bench of CJI Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi directed the CAQM to convene a meeting of experts in two weeks and submit a report on the major causes of the worsening pollution levels.
