Slate Business Slate Money | Meta’s Instascam Ads
Nov 8, 2025
Jeff Horwitz, a technology reporter at Reuters, dives deep into Meta's troubling world of fraudulent ads, revealing that the company profits even while failing to block scams. The discussion highlights Meta's practice of raising ad costs for suspected scammers instead of outright removing them. Horwitz also addresses the staggering sums generated from high-risk ads and how affluent countries are often victimized. Additionally, the team examines the dubious dreams behind Saudi Arabia's megacity, Neom, and the costs associated with such ambitious projects.
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Tariff Argument Versus Constitutional Reality
- The Solicitor General argued Trump-era tariffs are regulatory, not revenue-raising, despite prior claims to the contrary.
- This creates a tension with the Constitution's assignment of taxing power to Congress and undercuts the administration's past rhetoric.
Scams Are Treated As A Revenue Stream
- Reuters reporting shows Meta treats scammy advertisers probabilistically and often tolerates high-risk ads while extracting penalty revenue.
- That approach effectively makes scam-driven advertising a meaningful revenue stream for Meta.
High Bar For Valid Scam Reports
- Meta set an internal acceptable failure rate for user reports that still allows many valid scam reports to be dismissed.
- The company raised its handling bar only from dismissing 96% to dismissing 75% of valid scam reports.
