The Polish government has escalated its case against Meta to Brussels, demanding a €250 million fine under the Digital Services Act. The referral follows an audit by CERT Polska showing Meta failed to remove reported fraudulent advertisements on its platforms.
On 18 August, Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Affairs, Krzysztof Gawkowski, sent a letter to Meta over fraudulent advertising across its platforms. In his correspondence, Mr Gawkowski demanded urgent clarification on the scale of the issue and the company’s countermeasures. The Minister stated that user safety is a mandatory obligation under the Digital Services Act (DSA). Mr Gawkowski stated in his communication: ‘I do not accept a situation in which a platform possessing immense technological and financial resources simultaneously acts as a distribution venue for fraudulent advertisements, whilst harmed individuals are forced to take action over many months simply to have them removed.’
Although Meta submitted a response on 26 August outlining its enforcement practices, Warsaw considered that the measures are inadequate. Grounding in evidence from a 2024 investigation conducted by CERT Polska, the Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) operating within the structure of NASK (National Research Institute), which documented persistent ad fraud on Meta’s platforms.
The case was escalated by the Polish government to Brussels. According to the government, the Commission should exercise its enforcement powers over Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) by incorporating the findings identified by (including CERT Polska’s audit demonstrating Meta’s failure in containing the spread of fraudulent ads) into the EU’s formal DSA investigation and imposing a €250 million fine.
The Polish government has escalated the case to Brussels requesting the Commission to exercise its enforcement powers over Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) by incorporating CERT Polska’s findings into the EU’s formal DSA investigation and imposing a €250 million fine. The referral alleges breaches across six DSA articles, including systemic risk assessment, risk mitigation, advertiser transparency, and notice-and-action mechanisms, and requests both financial penalties and mandatory corrective remedies against Meta.
The European Commission has yet to launch an inquiry specifically targeting financial scam ads or penalise major platforms for related consumer-protection failures.
Why does it matter?
In the European Union, Meta (as the owner of Facebook and Instagram) are considered VLOPs under the Digital Services Act (DSA) and are subjected to the strictest tier of regulatory oversight. According to Mr Gawkowski, under Article 26 of the DSA, Meta must guarantee full advertising transparency, clearly disclosing who financed each advert and on whose behalf it is presented.
These provisions remove the defence that VLOPs are merely passive intermediaries when they actively target, distribute, and monetise sponsored content. Systemic failures to verify advertiser identities or accurately disclose sponsored content undermine these statutory safeguards.
Enforcing such statutory duties ensures uniform accountability across the entire single market, holding tech companies liable for the integrity of their advertising ecosystems. The case reinforces the DSA’s centralised enforcement model, empowering member states to escalate regional compliance failures to Brussels to ensure consumer protection and digital safety across the entire EU single market.
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