Trending 
US tech giant Meta has filed lawsuits against several individuals and firms in Brazil and China over the use of celebrity deepfakes to promote fraudulent products across its platforms.
In a statement on Thursday, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp said it had taken legal action against four advertisers accused of impersonating well-known personalities and brands to mislead users.
The company explained that advances in artificial intelligence have enabled scammers to create highly convincing audio and video imitations of public figures, often used to promote fake investment schemes or unverified products.
In Brazil, Meta’s lawsuits target companies, including B&B Suplementos e Cosméticos and Brites Academia de Treinamento, as well as two individuals, over what it described as a scheme that used deepfake videos of a respected physician to market unapproved healthcare products.
The firm also alleged that Brites sold training courses teaching others how to carry out similar scams.
One of the figures reportedly impersonated was Drauzio Varella, who criticised the legal action as insufficient. He described the move as only a small step in addressing widespread public health fraud, adding that platforms with massive reach play a role in amplifying such deceptive content.
Meta also brought cases against individuals, Vitor Lourenco de Souza and Milena Luciani Sanchez, for related activities in Brazil.
In China, the company sued Shenzhen Yunzheng Technology, accusing it of running “celebrity-bait” advertisements targeting users in countries including the United States and Japan as part of a broader investment scam network.
Additionally, a Vietnamese firm, Ly Van Lam, was sued for allegedly promoting counterfeit advertisements for Longchamp ly, a Vietnamese luxury handbag brand.
Meta said the legal actions form part of its broader efforts to combat fraud and protect users from increasingly sophisticated online scams.
