LONDON — British digital bank Starling says it is boycotting FacebookMeta parent company for its inability to combat fraudulent financial ads

Starling CEO Anne Boden said that Starling would no longer be paying for advertisements on Instagram or Facebook, even though scammers are targeting her customers.

Boden is urging the U.K. government not to allow financial fraud to be covered by the Online Safety Bill. This comprehensive set of laws aims to combat the spread of dangerous content online.

Online Safety Bill will place an obligation of care on big tech companies like Meta. GoogleThis requires them to investigate and take appropriate action for illegal or harmful materials. Companies that fail to do so would risk facing penalties of £18 million ($24 million) or 10% of their annual global revenues, whichever amount is higher.

The bill was reviewed by a panel of lawmakers last month. They recommended that scam ads be covered in the legislation. The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority has previously raised the alarm about adverts promoting investment scams. These include cryptocurrency scammers using the images of celebrities to defraud consumers, for example.

Google will launch August. stopped accepting ads for financial servicesExcept if the advertiser is authorized by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority or qualifies for specific exemptions, it will not be allowed to use the advertisement. Meta committed to tightening its policies regarding financial advertising in December. The firm has not yet implemented these changes. Meta claims it plans to implement these changes later in the year.

Boden stated in an annual letter that was published on Thursday: “We want our customers to be protected and protect our brand integrity.” It is not possible for us to continue advertising on platforms that are used by scammers and other bank customers who seek the savings of their customers.

Boden was also critical of Facebook’s Meta brand change and pivot towards the “metaverse”, a virtual world in which people can interact.

She cited an article by Anabel: attempt by one bankTo offer its customers advice through the virtual world Second Life.

Second Life is seen by many as the precursor to the metaverse.

Boden said that while Facebook (Meta), may make many promises in the future, it should not distract from what is important today here, now, and then, in the UK, 2022.

Starling, which was established in 2014 has gone on to become the UK’s most popular digital bank brand, serving 2.7million customers. Starling controls 7% of the U.K.’s banking market, and has 475,000 business accounts.

The bank is countable Goldman SachsFidelity, and the Qatar Investment Authority as investorsIt was last valued at $1.5 billion. Revolut and Monzo are two of its rivals. Their private valuations were at last $33 billion to $4.5 billion.

Below is the attempt by Boden to press Meta into doing something about online fraud mass boycotts from major brandsThe, who temporarily suspended advertising on Facebook for 2020 because it didn’t do enough to curb hate speech,