Technology giant Meta (better known as Facebook) is facing a £ 2.3bn class action lawsuit in the UK over allegations of infringing on users’ privacy. According to a Reuters news agency, Lisa Lubdahl Gormson, a senior adviser to the UKA (Financial Conduct Authority), accuses Meta of abusing its dominant power in the social media market, infringing on the privacy of 44 million users.
In fact the claim is that Facebook collected data within its arena and used certain mechanisms to allow user profiles to be created with data and depth on the citizens themselves, and this applies to UK citizens who used Facebook between 2015-2019. The lawsuit actually claims that Meta earned billions of pounds for imposing unfair restrictions and conditions that required their consumers to provide personal data in order to access the platform.
This case will be heard in The United Kingdom Competition Appeal Tribunal, a UK judicial body that comes to develop cases related to competition or economic regulation issues.
“In the 17 years since its inception, Facebook has become the only social network in the UK where you can be safe with friends and family in one place. However, there was a dark side to Facebook: it took advantage of its market dominance to impose unfair terms and conditions on Britons. Which gave it the power to misuse users’ personal data, “said Lubdal Gorensen.
Facebook responded to a Reuters report saying people used its various services because it provided value for them and “they have significant control over what information they share in the meta and with whom,” she said.
This case comes a few days after Meta lost to the FTC when it tried to strike out its antitrust lawsuit. A U.S. federal judge has ruled that the Federal Trade Commission can continue to advance an antitrust lawsuit alleging that Facebook is abusing a monopolistic position on social media, and denied the company’s request to dismiss the amended lawsuit.