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Do not fill this in! === Litigation === {{Further|Lawsuits involving Meta Platforms}} The company has been subject to repeated litigation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/01/appeals-court-upholds-deal-allowing-kids-images-in-facebook-ads/|title=Appeals court upholds deal allowing kids' images in Facebook ads|last=Farivar|first=Cyrus|date=January 7, 2016|website=Ars Technica|publisher=Condé Nast|access-date=June 3, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yahoo-facebook-lawsuit-idUSBRE82B18M20120312|title=Yahoo sues Facebook for infringing 10 patents|last1=Levine|first1=Dan|last2=Oreskovic|first2=Alexei|date=March 12, 2012|website=[[Reuters]]|publisher=Thomson Reuters|access-date=June 3, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.recode.net/2017/2/1/14476500/facebook-oculus-zenimax-lawsuit-500-million|title=Facebook lost its Oculus lawsuit and has to pay $500 million|last=Wagner|first=Kurt|date=February 1, 2017|website=[[Recode]]|publisher=[[Vox Media]]|access-date=June 3, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2016/5/19/11712804/facebook-private-message-scanning-privacy-lawsuit|title=Lawsuit claims Facebook illegally scanned private messages|last=Brandom|first=Rusell|date=May 19, 2016|website=[[The Verge]]|publisher=[[Vox Media]]|access-date=June 3, 2017}}</ref> Its most prominent case addressed allegations that Zuckerberg broke an [[oral contract]] with [[Cameron Winklevoss]], [[Tyler Winklevoss]], and [[Divya Narendra]] to build the [[ConnectU|then-named "HarvardConnection"]] social network in 2004.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/jul/25/digitalmedia.usnews|title=Facebook in court over ownership|last=Tryhorn|first=Chris|date=July 25, 2007|website=The Guardian|access-date=June 3, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=3391856|title=Facebook Founder Accused of Stealing Idea for Site|last=Michels|first=Scott|date=July 20, 2007|website=[[ABC News]]|publisher=[[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]|access-date=June 3, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/how-mark-zuckerberg-hacked-connectu-2010-3|title=How Mark Zuckerberg Hacked into Rival ConnectU In 2004|last=Carlson|first=Nicholas|date=March 5, 2010|website=Business Insider|publisher=Axel Springer SE|access-date=June 3, 2017}}</ref> On March 6, 2018, [[BlackBerry Limited|BlackBerry]] sued Facebook and its Instagram and WhatsApp subdivision for ripping off key features of its messaging app.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2018/03/07/blackberry-to-facebook-stole-our-messaging-technology.html|title=BlackBerry to Facebook: You stole our messaging technology|date=March 7, 2018|work=[[Fox News]]|access-date=March 8, 2018}}</ref> In October 2018, a Texan woman sued Facebook, claiming she had been recruited into the sex trade at the age of 15 by a man who "friended" her on the social media network. Facebook responded that it works both internally and externally to ban sex traffickers.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sex-trafficking-facebook-lawsuit/woman-sues-facebook-claims-site-enabled-sex-trafficking-idUSKCN1MD080|title=Woman sues Facebook, claims site enabled sex trafficking|last=Whitcomb|first=Dan|work=[[Reuters]]|access-date=October 4, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sex-trafficking-facebook-lawsuit/facebook-responding-to-lawsuit-says-sex-trafficking-banned-on-site-idUSKCN1ME038|title=Facebook, responding to lawsuit, says sex trafficking banned on site|last=Whitcomb|first=Dan|work=[[Reuters]]|access-date=October 4, 2018}}</ref> In 2019, British solicitors representing a [[Almondbury Community School bullying incident|bullied Syrian schoolboy]], sued Facebook over [[Almondbury Community School bullying incident#False claims|false claims]]. They claimed that Facebook protected prominent figures from scrutiny instead of removing content that violates its rules and that the special treatment was financially driven.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/refugee-waterboarded-bullies-sue-facebook-13885978|title=Refugee 'waterboarded' by bullies to sue Facebook over Tommy Robinson claims|last=Jolly|first=Bradley|date=January 21, 2019|work=Mirror}}</ref><ref name="facebookjamalrobinson">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/21/bullied-syrian-schoolboy-to-sue-facebook-over-tommy-robinson-claims|title=Bullied Syrian schoolboy to sue Facebook over Tommy Robinson claims|last=Halliday|first=Josh|date=January 21, 2019|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> The Federal Trade Commission and a coalition of New York state and 47 other state and regional governments filed separate suits against Facebook on December 9, 2020, seeking antitrust action based on its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsUp among other companies, calling these practices as anticompetitive. The suits also assert that in acquiring these products, they weakened their privacy measures for their users. The suits, besides other fines, seek to unwind the acquisitions from Facebook.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/9/22158483/facebook-antitrust-lawsuit-anti-competition-behavior-attorneys-general | title = The FTC is suing Facebook to unwind its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp |first1= Nick | last1= Statt | first2= Russell |last2=Brandom | date = December 9, 2020 | access-date = December 9, 2020 | work = The Verge }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.marketwatch.com/story/facebook-hit-with-antitrust-suit-from-ftc-and-48-states-targeted-at-acquisitions-11607543049 | title = Facebook hit with antitrust suits from FTC, 48 AGs to 'unwind' Instagram, WhatsApp transactions | first = Jon | last = Swartz |date = December 9, 2020 | access-date = December 9, 2020 | work = [[Marketwatch]] }}</ref> On January 6, 2022, France's data privacy regulatory body [[CNIL]] fined Facebook a 60 million euros for not allowing its internet users an easy refusal of [[HTTP cookie|cookies]] along with [[Google]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Rosemain|first=Mathieu|date=January 6, 2022|title=Google hit with 150 mln euro French fine for cookie breaches|language=en|work=[[Reuters]]|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/france-imposes-fines-facebook-ireland-google-2022-01-06/|access-date=January 6, 2022}}</ref> On December 22, 2022, the Quebec Court of Appeal approved a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Facebook users who claim they were discriminated against because the platform allows advertisers to target both job and housing advertisements based on various factors, including age, gender, and even race.<ref name="Facebook-lawsuit">{{cite news|last =Thompson |first =Elizabeth |title =Class-action lawsuit against Facebook claiming discrimination gets the green light|newspaper =[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]|location =Quebec|language =English |publisher =CBC|date =January 4, 2023|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/facebook-lawsuit-discrimination-ads-1.6702606|access-date =January 10, 2023 }}</ref> The lawsuit centres on the platform's practice of "micro targeting ads", claiming ads are ensured to appear only in the feeds of people who belong to certain targeted groups. Women, for example, would not see ads targeting men, while older generation men would not see an ad aimed at people between 18 and 45.<ref name="Facebook-lawsuit"/> The class action could include thousands of Quebec residents who have been using the platform as early as April 2016, who were seeking jobs or housing during that period.<ref name="Facebook-lawsuit"/> Facebook has 60 days after the court's December 22 ruling to decide to appeal the case to the Supreme Court of Canada. If it does not appeal, the case returns to the Quebec Superior Court.<ref name="Facebook-lawsuit"/> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). 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