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Singapore Threatens Meta With Fines Over Facebook Impersonation Scams

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The Singapore government has given Meta Platforms until the end of this month to introduce stronger safeguards, including facial recognition technology, to combat impersonation scams on Facebook—or face steep fines.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said on Thursday that Meta could be fined up to S$1 million ($776,639) if it fails to comply “without reasonable excuse.” After the deadline, Meta would face additional penalties of S$100,000 per day until measures are implemented.

The directive, issued Wednesday, follows a surge in scams involving fake ads, accounts, and business pages impersonating government officials. Authorities say incidents of such scams rose sharply between June 2024 and June 2025.

A Meta spokesperson said impersonation and deceptive ads are against company policy, adding: “We remove these when detected.” The spokesperson noted that Meta uses specialized systems to catch fraudulent accounts and “celeb-bait” ads, and works with law enforcement to pursue legal action against scammers.

Earlier this month, Singapore police ordered Meta to step up anti-scam measures on Facebook, but that directive did not include a compliance deadline.

Officials said this is the first enforcement order under Singapore’s Online Criminal Harms Act, which came into effect in February 2024. The law gives regulators new powers to hold platforms accountable for online scams and harmful digital activity.

“While Meta has taken steps to address impersonation scams globally, including in Singapore, the Ministry of Home Affairs and police remain concerned by the prevalence of such scams locally,” the ministry said.

Meta Unlikely to Further Change Pay-or-Consent Model, Faces Imminent EU Fines: Sources

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Meta Platforms is expected to maintain its current pay-or-consent model without further adjustments, making it nearly certain to face new antitrust charges and significant daily fines from the European Union, according to sources with direct knowledge of the situation.

The European Commission recently warned Meta that limited tweaks to the model would not satisfy the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to limit Big Tech’s market power through strict regulations. Meta was already fined €200 million ($234 million) in April for breaching the DMA with its pay-or-consent approach from November 2023 to November 2024.

Although Meta modified the model in November 2024 to reduce the use of personal data for targeted ads, the EU remains unsatisfied. Sources indicated that unless circumstances change, Meta will not propose further revisions, prompting expected new charges and daily fines that could reach up to 5% of the company’s average daily global revenue, starting from June 27. The final decision on fines has yet to be finalized.

Following the Reuters report, Meta’s shares dropped 1.7% mid-session. Meta declined to comment on the latest developments but reiterated previous statements asserting its compliance with the DMA, highlighting the broad choices offered to European users and accusing the Commission of unfairly targeting its business model.

EU Probes Corporate Structure of Elon Musk’s X Months After xAI Acquisition

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The European Union announced on Thursday that it is seeking further information from Elon Musk’s social media platform X regarding recent changes to its corporate structure. This inquiry comes months after the platform was acquired by Musk’s xAI in a $33 billion deal.

A spokesperson for the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, stated, “We are following closely changes in the corporate structure of X, as we would changes in any other designated platform.” However, the spokesperson did not confirm Bloomberg News reports suggesting that regulators are considering potential fines against X under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

Bloomberg reported that the regulator might announce a fine on X before its summer recess in August for alleged violations under the DSA, though such a timeline could be delayed.

Representatives from both xAI and X did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Under the DSA, companies found in breach can face fines of up to 6% of their global turnover, with repeat offenders potentially banned from operating within Europe.

Earlier this month, X updated its blue checkmark disclaimer to preempt a possible substantial fine from EU antitrust authorities. The European Commission had issued preliminary findings in July last year stating that X violated the DSA’s rules on deceptive design by converting the blue checkmark into a paid verification, thereby misleading users about credibility. X has disputed this assessment.