US Supreme Court denies Meta's appeal in multi-billion dollar class action

The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up Meta Platforms' appeal, allowing a multi-billion dollar class action lawsuit filed by advertisers to proceed, according to a report by Reuters.

The class action, accusing the parent company of Facebook and Instagram of inflating the number of people their ads could potentially reach, will continue its journey through the courts.

The decision follows a ruling from the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in March 2024, which had found against Meta in a 2-1 vote. The appeals panel determined that Meta's alleged misrepresentation of ad reach - focusing on social media accounts instead of actual people - could potentially cause damages exceeding $7 billion, the report added.

The class action was led by former Meta advertisers DZ Reserve and Cain Maxwell, who argued that the company overstated the potential viewership of their ads by up to 400%.

The plaintiffs contend that this fraudulent overstatement harmed millions of advertisers who have paid for Facebook and Instagram ads since August 2014.

In its appeal, Meta contended that the "common course of conduct" test used by the lower courts was flawed. The company pointed out to previous rulings in other federal appeals courts that had rejected this test, arguing that some advertisers may not have been misled by the alleged misrepresentation or chose not to rely on it, the report said.

Meta also criticized the 9th Circuit for deferring too much to district judges who certify class actions, especially in this case.