The Swedish media organization Utgivarna has filed a police report against Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg for fraud related to scam ads on Facebook. Representing SVT, SR, TV4 and others, the group accuses the platform of exploiting media houses and journalists while profiting from criminal activities. The report follows repeated demands for action that have yielded no change.
On Thursday, November 27, 2025, the media organization Utgivarna announced it has filed a police report against Mark Zuckerberg. The reason is scam ads on Facebook that exploit well-known media houses, journalists, and profiles to defraud private individuals of money. The organization, including SVT, Sveriges Radio, UR, TV4, Sveriges Tidskrifter, and Tidningsutgivarna, describes the ads as a democratic problem causing financial and psychological suffering.
According to a report from news agency Reuters, ads linked to fraud accounted for ten percent of Meta's 2024 revenues, equivalent to about 152 billion Swedish kronor. In Sweden, the Financial Supervisory Authority has mapped that over 5,000 people lost a total of half a billion kronor on such frauds during the summer of 2025. SVT's Uppdrag granskning has shown that the ads are often run by international criminal networks.
Utgivarna has repeatedly demanded that Meta take action, including manual reviews and technical blocks, but the company has not allocated sufficient resources. "It is astonishing that one of the world's largest and most profitable companies is allowed to earn large sums by continuing to facilitate crime that severely affects innocent people, without taking adequate measures to stop it," says Utgivarna's chair James Savage in a press release.
The police report covers fraud, aiding fraud, and preparation of fraud. It also includes violations of the law on names and images in advertising, with complainants including TV4's Anna Brolin and Olof Lundh, as well as SVT's Karin Mattisson, whose names are used without permission. Additionally, trademark infringement is reported for unauthorized use of logos from SVT, TV4, Aftonbladet, and Expressen.
Olof Lundh comments: "It's good that they're marking it. Of course, Meta could stop this if they wanted to. That they make money from people being scammed and that it tarnishes those of us who have been used – Meta should be ashamed."
Meta responds in an email to SVT that scammers develop new tactics and that the platform is working on methods to prevent fraud. "It violates our policy to impersonate companies and public figures, and we will remove these accounts when we become aware of them."
Utgivarna urges the government to demand stronger measures from Meta or through EU legislation to protect journalistic credibility and democracy.
