Facebook reported fake numbers to advertisers

And why would the numbers of any other platform be any better?

TikTok, Clubhouse, Snap - nobody independently verifies their numbers.

It is even used to create virality. Those 1.5mil likes on a TikTok? Why wouldn't TikTok spike that number to get attention?

Add LinkedIn too - I think they were reporting wrong numbers for years. I think reddit is likely the worst with click fraud. Reddit is not gated by user login so bots can click on ads without having a user account. Being new to the ad space, they likely don't have the sophisticated bot detection tools that Google has to invalidate fraudulent clicks.

Exactly this. Companies can use these numbers to appear bigger, richer, more popular, more successful, etc., than other platforms and we just trust they're reporting accurate numbers.

I also wonder what we could do to change it. Do you think someone independently verifying the numbers would help? Who do you think might do it and how?