Meta tightens verification of financial ads in Poland, digital minister wants penalties
Meta is announcing new safeguards in Poland against fraudulent ads. The announcement came a day after the digital affairs minister said he had asked the European Commission to impose a 250 million euro fine on the company.
Meta announced two changes on Facebook and Instagram in Poland on Friday. The first is mandatory identity verification for all financial services advertisers targeting ads to Poland. Until now, the company required it in specific situations, for example when an account showed suspicious behavior. The expansion is to cover all such advertisers “in the coming weeks.” The statement was signed by Jakub Turowski, Meta’s Director of Public Policy for Central and Eastern Europe.
The second change is an improved artificial intelligence system that detects accounts impersonating well-known people. Poland is in the first group of European countries where the company is rolling it out. According to Meta, from July 2025 to June 2026 it removed 137,000 fraudulent ads in Poland, more than 88 percent of them before users reported them. By the end of 2026, 90 percent of its global advertising revenue is to come from verified advertisers. In 2025, that figure was 70 percent.
The announcement coincided with pressure from the government. On 18 August, Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski demanded data from Meta on fraudulent ads, including fake ads featuring the image of InPost CEO Rafał Brzoska. He considered the company’s response unsatisfactory. On Thursday, he said he had submitted a formal request to the European Commission to impose a 250 million euro fine on Meta (about 1 billion zlotys). The basis is the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU regulation on platform responsibility for published content. Gawkowski expects platforms to verify content “within minutes,” not hours or days.
Rafał Brzoska believes the amount is too low. He is leading the “150 percent” campaign, which calls for penalties amounting to 150 percent of platforms’ income from scam ads. According to his estimates, Meta earns more than 20 million zlotys a day from them in Poland. In response to the minister’s letter, Meta proposed a meeting to discuss its actions and further cooperation. The information comes from Meta’s statement and reporting by Wirtualnemedia.pl and PAP.
Companies from the financial sector that advertise in Poland on Meta’s services should factor identity verification into the schedules of their upcoming campaigns.