By Victor Pinheiro

SÃO PAULO – Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:) faces a fantastic of as much as $3.62 million after shedding a lawsuit by Brazilian division retailer chain Havan that accused the social media firm of accepting paid commercials that fraudulently use the retailer’s title to deceive customers.

A Santa Catarina state decide dominated on Monday that Meta had 48 hours to dam adverts that Havan didn’t contract and which point out it or its proprietor, billionaire Luciano Grasp. If Meta doesn’t comply, fines can go as much as 20 million reais.

In her ruling, Decide Joana Ribeiro stated it was unacceptable for Meta to promote adverts in an insecure solution to maintain its enterprise mannequin.

In a press release on Monday, Havan known as the choice “a landmark” in defending the corporate’s and Grasp’s rights. 

Meta declined to remark. The corporate can attraction the choice.

Within the lawsuit, Havan stated Meta income from illicit adverts with out taking accountability or verifying their legitimacy, main fraud victims to sue the retailer.

Earlier this 12 months, Reuters’ fact-checking service in Brazil verified three false Havan adverts on Meta platforms that used Grasp’s picture. All confirmed indicators of synthetic intelligence getting used to mimic the businessman’s voice.

The fraudulent adverts led victims to pay for nonexistent merchandise.

($1 = 5.5209 reais)