Meta hit with class action over impersonation ads using financial professionals’ identities
A class action lawsuit alleges Meta unlawfully used financial professionals’ identities in paid advertisements, leading to potential investment fraud.Summary
A class action lawsuit has been filed against Meta Platforms, Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, alleging the company unlawfully utilized financial professionals’ names, images, voices, and personas in paid advertisements. Plaintiffs John Suddeth and Sara Perkins claim this practice induced investment in fraudulent securities, specifically thinly traded China-based stocks, and violates several laws including the Lanham Act and various state right of publicity and unfair competition laws. The lawsuit asserts that Meta continued to allow these “impersonation ads” to proliferate even after receiving warnings from state attorneys general regarding widespread fraud targeting U.S. consumers. The plaintiffs seek to represent a nationwide class of financial professionals whose identities were used without consent to promote securities or investment opportunities between January 1, 2023, and the present. They are requesting a jury trial and seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as actual, statutory, and punitive damages. This lawsuit follows a similar complaint filed earlier this year accusing Meta of enabling a stock manipulation scheme.
(Source：Class Action Lawsuits)