The Consumer Federation of America (CFA), on behalf of itself and a proposed class of D.C. Facebook users, has filed a class action complaint and jury trial demand, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia Civil Division, against Meta Platforms, Inc (Meta) for misleading D.C. consumers about its detrimental role as “a pillar of the global fraud economy.”

invoking the D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act (CPPA), in which a nonprofit or public interest organization may seek an injunction against the use of an unlawful trade practice, CFA seeks to recover damages, illegal profits, and injunctive relief for D.C. consumers and to prevent Meta from benefiting from its violations of D.C. law.

According to the Complaint, Meta misleads D.C. users about the steps it claims to be taking to fight fraud on its platform. While promising D.C. users that it is meaningfully fighting scams and removing scam content from its platform, in truth, Meta has adopted policies and practices that it knows allow scam advertisements to proliferate on its platforms while simultaneously profiting off those ads at its users’ expense.