Facebook Now Has a Counterfeits Problem
February 24, 2022
Purveyors of counterfeit goods know how to adapt. Fake luxury products moved heavily online first through eBay then through Amazon. Now certain aspects of social media platforms seem to have enticed such vendors in another direction. Gadgets Now describes “How Facebook and Instagram May Have ‘Fake Shopping’ Problem.” The article reports:
“Facebook owner Meta Platforms is struggling to stop counterfeiters from pushing fake luxury goods from Gucci to Chanel across its social media apps, according to research and interviews, as the company barrels into ecommerce. Its platforms have emerged as hot spots for counterfeit offenders who exploit their range of social and private messaging tools to reach users, according to interviews with academics, industry groups and counterfeit investigators, who likened brands’ attempts at policing services like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp as a game of ‘whack-a-mole. ‘Facebook and Instagram are the key marketplaces where counterfeit goods get sold to members of the public. It used to be eBay 10 years ago, and Amazon five years ago,’ said Benedict Hamilton, and managing director at Kroll, a private investigation company hired by brands hurt by counterfeiting and smuggling.”
The write-up cites a recent report (PDF) from Italian analytics firm Ghost Data that found over 26,000 active counterfeiter accounts on Facebook and more than 20,000 on Instagram (also Meta-owned) between June and October 2021. Meta has prioritized ecommerce as a way to counter revenue drains like changes to targeted ads and flat user growth. But now it must placate regulators over this related issue. We learn:
“Meta has joined ecommerce sites and online marketplaces in grappling with the sale of counterfeit goods. But unlike public listings on sites dedicated to shopping like eBay and Amazon.com, social platforms also provide offenders multiple channels to post in closed spaces, send private messages and use disappearing content like Instagram Stories, experts said.”
See the write-up for more on the fight against counterfeit merchandise. We wonder—will the emphasis on ecommerce will really pay off for Meta, or will it become another front for criticism? Perhaps both.
Cynthia Murrell, February 24, 2022
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