A while back, just several weeks ago, we harped on the issue of bogus online ads illicitly using images of well-known personalities as come-ons. Allowed to spread without intervention, these misleading adverts that sell untested products have amassed a fortune for the people behind.

It was only recently that the snowballing interest to hunt down the manipulators became a public issue when Sen. Jinggoy Estrada decided to ask for a Senate inquiry.

The senator called the adverts misleading and exploitative because the images of popular celebrities and influencers are craftily included in the promo without the approval of the owners.

But the hunt should not end just with the catching of the manipulations and the filing airtight cases. The government, with help from the publishers of social media platforms, must also double down in its campaign to close the accounts for good.

Among the numerous victims of the bogus ads, chiefly on health and food supplements, are celebrities and known profiles like Kris Aquino, Dr. Willie Ong, and the late Dolphy. Even Dr. Tony Leachon, a public health expert, was not spared the scheming which uses ‘maliciously manipulated images, spliced videos, and fabricated statements.’

Only days, however, health secretary Teodoro Herbosa upped the ante by ordering the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with help from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), to give more teeth to the drive in bringing down fake commercials. The order, miserably, comes out many years after the schemers have already built a strong online following and have employed an aggressive campaign in drawing more victims.

An example of this massively relentless promotion is a hair grower that pops out just about anywhere. Whether opening an account, channel or an online page, you see the ad conspicuously plastered anywhere on the page. Even in viewing movies, news, and documentaries, the surfacing of ads has come to a point that they have become irritants to surfers and subscribers.

Sec. Herbosa’s advice for online buyers to buy only FDA-approved products is a lame, if delayed, reaction. Online sellers are drawn to well-produced adverts than looking for FDA certifications that are readable only if the screen or monitor is magnified. Creating a small yet technologically savvy health team tasked to hunt down manipulators is definitely more efficient.

The secretary calls the proliferation of deceptive ads as ‘alarming,’ but he has yet to report to the nation what his agency has so far done to shoot down the online infomercials that started to thrive during the pandemic when people relied on the internet to purchase some of their needs.

FDA’s failure to make headway in monitoring bogus online health ads is a sad commentary on how the state agencies interpret their obligation in safeguarding the public. To say that it is very difficult to screen violators makes sense, but creative options can always produce better results, especially when government agencies things out with social platform publishers.

Engaging the cooperation of Facebook or YouTube, of course, should carry positive planning, foremost of which is giving them incentives that will encourage to institute new safeguards and make it harder for the fake ads to thrive or proliferate.

But with the issue of fake ads getting its Senate attention, expect new revelations to further enhance the censure of misleading ads and expanding the dragnet to bring down devious informercials from the social media platforms. Of course, the job takes time and perfecting the handle of the probe requires more than just the energy and dynamism needed to regulate and remove from the cyberspace the unwanted adverts.

As it is now, we hope the enthusiasm to protect consumers and and for them to buy only legit products will take some roots in those who are addicted to online shopping. (AVF)