"Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, scored a legal victory Tuesday when a federal judge in San Francisco dismissed a lawsuit accusing the Menlo Park tech firm of misleading users about its privacy practices to maintain its social media dominance. U.S. District Judge James Donato granted Meta's request for a summary judgment halting a trial that had been scheduled for November, according to Reuters. The ruling came after the court barred a key expert witness for the plaintiffs, effectively leaving them unable to demonstrate any damages."
"The lawsuit had been brought by three Facebook users who claimed that Meta misrepresented its data protection policies to suppress competition. Reuters reported that the plaintiffs argued that users should be compensated for handing over personal data to use the platform and had even planned to call CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify. Meta denied the allegations, telling the court that it competes fairly with rivals such as YouTube and TikTok."
U.S. District Judge James Donato granted Meta's request for summary judgment, dismissing a consumer lawsuit that alleged the company misled users about privacy to maintain dominance. The court barred a key plaintiffs' expert, leaving the plaintiffs unable to demonstrate damages. Three Facebook users sought compensation for handing over personal data and a judicial order to restore competition, and had planned to call CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify. The court declined expert findings suggesting Meta might have paid users about $5 per month for their data and earlier rejected class-action certification. A separate advertisers' antitrust suit remains pending before the same judge.
Read at San Jose Inside
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]