BRUSSELS – Alphabet’s Google, Meta Platforms and TikTok were hit with complaints from European Union consumer groups on May 21 for allegedly failing to protect users from financial scams on their platforms.
The move highlights growing pressure worldwide on Big Tech to do more to address the negative impacts of social media, particularly for children and vulnerable users.
The complaints, filed by the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) and 29 of its members in 27 European countries, were submitted to the European Commission and national regulators under the Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires large online platforms to do more to tackle illegal and harmful content.
“Meta, TikTok and Google not only fail to proactively remove fraudulent ads but also do little when being notified about such scams,” BEUC Director General Agustin Reyna said in a statement.
“If they fail to address the financial scams circulating on their platforms, fraudsters will continue to reach millions of European consumers daily, leaving people at risk of losing hundreds to thousands of euros to fraud,” he said.
Google and Meta rejected the complaints and said they work proactively to protect their users.
A Google spokesperson said: “We strictly enforce our ad policies, blocking over 99 per cent of violating ads before they ever run. Our teams constantly update these defences to stay ahead of scammers and protect people.”
Meta said it worked actively to remove scammers and fraudsters from its social networks. “We invest in advanced AI, tools, and partnerships to stop them. Last year we found and removed over 159 million scam ads, 92 per cent before anyone reported them to us,” a spokesperson said.
There was no immediate response from TikTok to an e-mailed request for comment.
The consumer groups said they reported nearly 900 ads suspected of breaching EU laws between December 2025 and March 2026 but the platforms only took down 27 per cent of the ads and 52 per cent of the reports were rejected or ignored.
The groups urged regulators to investigate whether the companies were complying with the rules and to impose fines for breaches.
DSA fines can reach as much as 6 per cent of a company’s global annual turnover. REUTERS
