Facebook Users Request Meta Turn Over Cambridge Analytica Investigation Material In Bid To Bolster Antitrust Claims

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

Facebook Monopoly Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: Facebook users asked a federal judge to require Meta to turn over documents related to its internal investigation of the Cambridge Analytica data harvesting scandal.
• Why: Facebook users claim the material is relevant to their pending antitrust complaint against the company. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court.   

A group of Facebook users in California have asked a judge to require Facebook’s parent company Meta to hand over documents from its internal investigation into data harvesting by Cambridge Analytica. 

The Facebook users argue that Meta’s control over the material is relevant to their pending antitrust complaint against the social networking company. 

Specifically, the Facebook users claim the material would strengthen their case against the company, which they are accusing of attempting to monopolize the market for social media. 

The complaint against Facebook, which includes advertisers as plaintiffs, accuses the company of purchasing Instagram and WhatsApp as a way to stifle competition in the social media market. 

Facebook Users’ Class Action Claims Meta Misrepresented Data Collection Practices

The Facebook users also claim the company misrepresented its “data collection and use practices” to help it obtain and maintain its monopoly power.

The company’s ability to protect user data was at the center of a previous multidistrict litigation against Facebook, which saw users argue that its inability to prevent third parties from accessing and subsequently misusing their data resulted in a number of privacy violations, Law360 reports.

The privacy complaint followed the March 2018 reveal that Cambridge Analytica bought the data of 87 million Facebook users from a third-party app developer. 

Facebook users seek to use details from the multidistrict litigation in their current complaint, believing it will strengthen their case, Law360 reports. 

In January, a judge determined that Facebook must face similar claims by the Federal Trade Commission that the company was guilty of attempting to monopolize the social media market. 

Do you believe Meta has monopolized the social media market? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check LLP, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP and Barrack Rodos & Bacine and Pomerantz LLP.

The Case is Klein, et al. v. Facebook Inc., Case No. 3:20-cv-08570, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Solara Medical Supplies Data Breach $9.76M Class Action Settlement
• Ringless Voicemail Class Action Lawsuit Investigation
• Coca-Cola Class Action Claims Workers Not Paid Correctly Following Kronos Hack
• Dell Class Action Alleges Website Not Accessible To Blind, Visually Impaired