Samsung fined $9.8M for misleading Australian phone ads
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By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian judge has ordered Samsung to pay $9.8 million in penalties for misleading advertising over how water-resistant some models of smartphones are. Justice Brendan Murphy on Thursday gave South Korea-based Samsung’s Australian subsidiary 30 days to pay the fines. Samsung admitted to making false and misleading claims in advertisements between 2016 and 2018 about the water resistance of seven models of Galaxy smartphones. The misleading ads had promoted the phones’ water resistance and suitability for use in swimming pools and seawater. But the charging ports could be damaged and stop working if the phones were recharged while the ports were still wet.