The class action against the social media giant’s parent firm, Meta, was launched by competition law expert Liza Lovdahl Gormsen at the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London. Lovdahl Gormsen claims that Facebook used its dominant position to force users to agree to its “unfair” terms and conditions. The lawsuit, which is the first of its kind against Meta in the UK, is seeking a minimum of £2.3 billion in damages.
The lawsuit will seek financial redress for UK users of Facebook between 1 October 2015 and 31 December 2019 who used the site at least once during this period. This is thought to be over 44 million people.
“In the 17 years since it was created, Facebook became the sole social network in the UK where you could be sure to connect with friends and family in one place,” Lovdahl Gormsen said. “Yet there was a dark side to Facebook – it abused its market dominance to impose unfair terms and conditions on ordinary Britons, giving it the power to exploit their personal data.”
