U.S. judge says Meta deleted key data in Australian billionaire's fake-ad lawsuit

In a decision issued on August 10, a federal judge in California ruled that Meta deliberately destroyed or failed to retain data central to a lawsuit brought by Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest. Forrest alleges that the social-media company enabled cryptocurrency scam advertisements that exploited his image, and that Meta's AI tools altered the ads to increase their reach. Judge P. Casey Pitts dismissed Meta's claim that it required two years to discover the data, calling the assertion “simply not credible” and describing the conduct as gross negligence, though not intentional.

The judge did not yet rule on Meta's Section 230 immunity claim, which the company is expected to pursue at a later hearing. The case is still in the preliminary hearing phase, with a further hearing slated before the end of the year. This follows other recent rulings that have limited Section 230 protections for Meta in state courts.