Facebook Stops Fighting Wiretap Act Litigation After More Than A Decade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (formerly Facebook) has proposed a national class action settlement of its long-running Facebook Internet Tracking Litigation.¹ According to papers filed by the parties, the settlement class would include more than 124 million Americans. While a settlement does not decide legal controversies, a resolution between one of the leading internet companies and more than a third of the nation will have an impact on how Facebook and other tracking technologies are viewed in court and by Congress.

The plaintiffs contend that between April 22, 2010, and Sept. 26, 2011, Facebook tracked user activity on non-Facebook sites for purposes of targeted advertising. Facebook did so by means of Facebook "Like" buttons that website operators throughout the internet integrated into their digital properties. On Sept. 27, 2011, Facebook publicly committed not to use data from Like buttons and other widgets to track users or target advertising to them and to delete or