High Court Declines to Rule in Meta Shareholder Lawsuit

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday declined to rule on whether shareholders could proceed with a securities fraud lawsuit against Meta (formerly known as Facebook). The lawsuit accuses the social media giant of misleading investors about how user data was misused on its platform.

The case, filed by Amalgamated Bank and other plaintiffs, was previously reviewed by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court's decision to deny the appeal effectively upholds the lower court's ruling without providing any commentary on the matter.

The lawsuit focuses on allegations that Facebook's management failed to adequately inform shareholders about the risks associated with third parties misusing user data. This situation could have significant implications for the company's stock value. The Supreme Court's dismissal does not resolve the underlying legal dispute, but it indicates that the high court will not serve as the venue for a resolution on this matter.

The Supreme Court's ruling was brief and stated: "The appeal has been dismissed as inadvertently granted." This means that the Supreme Court initially agreed to hear the case but later decided it should not have done so. The case now remains in the lower appellate court where proceedings were previously conducted.