The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Meta must face a class-action lawsuit from marketers who accuse the owners of Facebook and Instagram of illegally misrepresenting the number of people their ads may reach, thereby overcharging them。

On Thursday, the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in a 2-1 decision that advertisers can file a class-action lawsuit for damages over Meta's claims about the "possible coverage" of its ads.。

Advertisers claim that the metric used calculates the number of social media accounts rather than the actual number of people, inflating the number of potential viewers by as much as 400%.。

The court also struck down the certification of a separate class seeking injunctive relief, meaning advertisers could not sue as a class because it was unclear whether the lead plaintiff had the legal capacity to sue.。

A dissenting judge wants to eliminate both categories。According to court documents, marketers believe Meta may owe them more than $7 billion in damages.。

Meta has said that advertising accounts for almost "all" of its revenue and expects revenue to reach $134.9 billion in 2023, with a net profit of $39.1 billion.。

Class action lawsuits may get more compensation at a lower cost than if they were filed separately。

Majority Circuit Judge Sidney Thomas argued that because Meta made the same alleged misrepresentations about potential coverage, marketers could try to prove that their claimed losses were caused by a "similar course of conduct."。

The collective could include millions of individuals and organizations that have paid to run ads on Facebook and Instagram since August 15, 2014.。

Their lawsuit claims that senior executives were aware of duplicate and fake accounts, including those created by bots, raising the "likely coverage" metric, but took steps to cover them up.。

Circuit Judge Danielle Forrest, in a partially dissenting opinion, said she would remove certification of the damages class because of individual misgivings about advertisers knowing what Meta told them before buying the ads.。

Advertiser's lawyer Geoffrey Graber said he looked forward to taking the damage issue to the jury for a verdict.。

The case in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit case number 22-15916。