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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Lawyers suing Facebook over ads appeal loss to Ninth Circuit

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SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) – Class action lawyers targeting Facebook’s parent company aren’t giving up their fight to hold it liable for their client feeling ripped off by a deceptive ad for a toddler activity board.

Anastasia Groschen said that board turned out to be a cheap wooden puzzle and sued Meta last year, but a San Francisco federal judge tossed the case on April 27. Her co-plaintiff, Christopher Calise, complained he bought a car engine assembly kit that never showed up from miuxo.com.

Unfortunately for the plaintiffs, Section 230 immunizes companies that provide an “interactive computer service” that allows third parties to communicate directly with users. Courts have repeatedly held that protection also bars lawsuits claiming the companies failed to enforce their own ad policies.

But lawyers at Levi & Korsinsky will try to convince the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit otherwise. They filed their notice of appeal on June 16.

“Plaintiffs do not plead that Meta required advertisers to post specific content, made suggestions about the content of the ads, or played a role in creating the unlawful ads,” wrote U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White in an April 27 decision. “The fact that Meta cultivates relationships with advertisers and encourages them to post on its platform does not transform Meta into the creator of the allegedly illegal ad content.”

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