Meta Platforms faced a £2.3 billion lawsuit in the UK over claims it abused its market dominance by exploiting the personal data of 44 million users.
Various reports state Liza Lovdahl Gormsen, a competition law specialist at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, is heading the class action. Reuters explained she brought the case on behalf of people in the UK who had used Facebook between 2015 and 2019.
The lawsuit will be heard by the Competition Appeal Tribunal and argues people are paying too high a price for using Meta Platform’s Facebook service by handing over personal data the company then uses to generate advertising income.
Facebook is accused of making billions by imposing unfair terms and conditions requiring consumers to surrender their personal data to access the social network.
The Guardian reported the action is being funded by Innsworth, a company which pays for litigation in exchange for a share of any damages.
If it goes ahead, the case could last up to a year.
A Meta Platforms representative told The Guardian it delivers “value” to consumers and provides adequate control of the information they provide: “We have invested heavily to create tools that allow them to do so.”
The lawsuit rounds off a challenging week for Meta Platforms after a US district court cleared the Federal Trade Commission to make another attempt to take the company to task over its market dominance.
