The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear Meta Platforms’ appeal to avoid a multi-billion-dollar class action lawsuit brought by advertisers accusing the company of inflating the potential reach of its ads on Facebook and Instagram.
The justices rejected Meta’s appeal of a decision by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which allowed advertisers to seek damages as a group. In March 2024, a three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based court ruled 2-1 against Meta, stating that the advertisers could pursue their case as a class action because the company had provided the same alleged misrepresentation about ad reach to all advertisers.
The plaintiffs, led by former Meta advertisers DZ Reserve and Cain Maxwell, alleged that the company overstated its ads’ potential reach by focusing on the number of social media accounts rather than the number of individual users. They claimed Meta’s estimates were inflated by up to 400%, potentially causing damages exceeding $7 billion.
The class action covers millions of individuals and businesses that purchased ads on Facebook and Instagram since 15 August 2014. Class actions often allow for larger recoveries at a lower cost than individual lawsuits.
In its appeal, Meta argued that at least three federal appeals courts had rejected the “common course of conduct” standard, which the 9th Circuit applied. The company also contended that some advertisers may not have relied on the alleged misrepresentation or found it immaterial. Meta further criticised the 9th Circuit for granting excessive deference to district judges who initially certify class actions.
