The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Meta’s motion to block the advertisers’ lawsuit.

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a bid by the platform’s (Meta) platform to overturn allegations that the parent company of Facebook and Instagram overpaid advertisers. Advertisements may arrive.

The justices rejected Meta’s appeal of the lower court’s decision because of the advertisers’ collective claims Meta made about their ads being “accessible.”

A three-judge 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the San Francisco Circuit issued a 2-1 decision in March 2024 against Meta in Meno Park, Calif. The panel said Meta allegedly misrepresented how many people could see it. Advertising, advertisers can try to prove that the damage they caused, which could reach more than seven billion dollars, was caused by “common morality”.

The plaintiffs, led by former Meta advertisers DZ Reserve and Cain Maxwell, allege that Meta fraudulently inflated audience by 400% by focusing on the number of social media accounts, not the number of actual people.

Class actions sometimes lead to lower costs and higher recoveries than when plaintiffs are sued individually.

The segment in this case includes millions of individuals and businesses who have paid to advertise on Facebook and Instagram since August 15, 2014.

On appeal, Meta said at least three federal appeals courts have rejected the “common conduct” test.

The company said the test ignored how some advertisers found the alleged misinformation useless or distrusted it.

Metta also said the 9th Circuit gives the most deference to federal district judges who initially certify class actions, including advertisers’ cases, compared to all federal appeals courts.

Ads will account for most of the meta’s revenue, which was $116.1 billion in the first nine months of 2024.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stemple in New York; Editing by Will Dunham)