{"id":39986,"date":"2026-02-13T12:01:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T18:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/?p=39986"},"modified":"2026-02-13T12:01:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T18:01:37","slug":"bill-would-target-fraudulent-social-media-ads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/?p=39986","title":{"rendered":"Bill would target fraudulent social media ads"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Banking, Commerce and Insurance Committee heard testimony Feb. 10 on a measure that seeks to hold accountable social media platforms that accept paid advertising.<\/p>\n

\"Sen.
Sen. Carolyn Bosn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LB1118, sponsored by Sen. Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln, would update the state\u2019s Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act to treat certain conduct by social media platforms that accept paid advertising as a deceptive trade practice.<\/p>\n

A fraudulent advertisement is defined as one that misrepresents material facts or unlawfully impersonates another in order to induce a transaction or extract a benefit. A platform that knowingly permits fraudulent advertising or ignores credible reports would be guilty of a deceptive trade practice.<\/p>\n

Bosn said deceptive advertising is \u201ceverywhere\u201d online and often targets and exploits seniors, young people and those who are in financial distress. Enforcement gaps have emerged in the fight against this type of fraud, she said, because existing consumer protection laws weren\u2019t designed to guard against it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese ads don\u2019t just waste people\u2019s money, they cause real harm,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Bosn said social media platforms use sophisticated algorithms to target users, and those same systems easily could be used to target fraudulent advertisers. LB1118 would provide clear expectations, accountability and an incentive for social media platforms to go after bad actors, she said.<\/p>\n

Under the bill, a platform that accepts any form of compensation or thing of value for advertising would be in violation for failure to establish and implement the following:
\n\u2022 identity verification for advertisers;
\n\u2022 an unlawful impersonation detection and mitigation program;
\n\u2022 automated and manual fraud detection systems;
\n\u2022 measures to prevent repeated offenses by the same advertiser;
\n\u2022 a clear and conspicuous tool for users to report suspected fraud; and
\n\u2022 a process for law enforcement to report suspected fraudulent advertisements.<\/p>\n

The measure also would require platforms, within seven days, to investigate and determine if a reported ad is fraudulent and remove it from the platform.<\/p>\n

Paul Benda, executive vice president for risk, fraud and cybersecurity at the American Bankers Association, testified in favor of the proposal. He said online scams have cost many people their life savings and that social media platforms must do more to protect their users because banks cannot fight fraud alone.<\/p>\n

For example, he said, up to 10% of Meta\u2019s revenue, over $16 billion, can be linked to scam ads.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnless every player in the fraud ecosystem accepts their responsibility, the criminals will continue to victimize America on an unprecedented scale,\u201d Benda said.<\/p>\n

Also speaking in favor of LB1118 was Joyce Beck. Testifying on behalf of AARP Nebraska, she said many fraudulent ads target older Americans and often remain online even after they\u2019ve been reported, continuing to deceive others.<\/p>\n

For example, she said, the Federal Trade Commission reports that fraud losses among those 60 and older quadrupled from 2020 to 2024, rising from $600 million to $2.4 billion \u2014 with those originating on social media accounting for the most significant losses.<\/p>\n

\u201cGaps in advertising verification and platform oversight have allowed fraudulent, impersonation-based ads to flourish, causing devastating financial and emotional harm,\u201d Beck said.<\/p>\n

Megan Stokes, representing the Computer and Communications Industry Association, testified in opposition. She said social media platforms take fraud seriously by investing heavily in protecting users, working closely with law enforcement and financial platforms and removing millions of pieces of harmful content each year.<\/p>\n

By not allowing enough time for platforms to complete thorough investigations into fraud reports, Stokes said, LB1118 could harm legitimate businesses and advertisers and limit consumer access to lawful products.<\/p>\n

In addition, she said, online fraud is an interstate problem that would best be addressed through coordinated federal action that also involves banks and payment processors.<\/p>\n

\u201cTargeting a narrow slice of online advertising will not stop bad actors,\u201d Stokes said, \u201cIt will simply push them elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

The committee took no immediate action on the proposal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Banking, Commerce and Insurance Committee heard testimony Feb. 10 on a measure that seeks to hold accountable social media platforms that accept paid advertising.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39913,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[316],"class_list":["post-39986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-banking-commerce-and-insurance","tag-sen-caroyln-bosn"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/LB1118Bosn2-10-26a.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39986"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39988,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39986\/revisions\/39988"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/39913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}