Several EU member states have called on the European Commission to introduce a rule that would make social media platforms responsible for screening financial adverts on their sites for scams, FT reports.
Under an initial European Commission proposal for payment services regulation, now being negotiated among EU countries, Brussels introduced a right to automatic reimbursement from PayPal, Visa, Mastercard and banks for customers defrauded by scammers.
However, Ireland’s finance ministry has put forward an amendment that would require social media platforms to verify the legitimacy of advertisers before allowing their ads to be posted.
The amendment, which is gaining support among other EU countries, would only allow adverts from registered financial service providers to appear within the EU.
The commission argues that requiring social media platforms to vet online advertisers for scams would conflict with a key provision of the landmark Digital Services Act, which says tech companies don’t have to broadly monitor content.
However, supporters of the Irish-led plan contend that the rules could be crafted in a way that still fits within existing law.
The move comes as Bank of Ireland, a key supporter of the Irish proposal, reported that over 75% of its customers’ losses last year were due to investment fraud.
It also comes at a time when US President Donald Trump is pressuring Brussels to ease regulations on major American tech firms.