Google, Meta, Amazon and other tech industry giants recently signed a voluntary accord pledging to take “proactive actions” to fight fraud and scams on their platforms and increase cooperation with law enforcement to identify financial fraud.
The seven-page document lists several voluntary principles and actions the signatories agree to take to fight fraud, including enforcing anti-scam policies in a “timely manner” and increasing public education efforts. The accord also calls on governments to formally declare scam prevention a national priority.
The American Bankers Association has called on social media companies to do more to protect their users from scams, and it supports the SCAM Act, which would require social media companies to verify advertisers’ identity, implement systems to detect fraudulent advertisements, and investigate and remove fake ads. ABA has noted that while banks have taken numerous measures to protect consumers, social media companies do little, if any, vetting of the ads that appear on their platforms.
The accord urges policymakers to “review and harmonize” existing regulatory frameworks. However, it also seeks “Good Samaritan” liability protections to shield companies “acting in good faith to prevent or disrupt scams from undue civil or criminal liability or regulatory penalties.”
Other signatories include Adobe, OpenAi, Microsoft, Target and LinkedIn.
