Washington judges uphold $35M judgment against Facebook

A $35 million court-imposed penalty against Facebook parent Meta Inc. for campaign finance violations was upheld by Washington state appellate judges on Monday.

The ruling stemmed from an investigation by the Washington Public Disclosure Commission that found the social media company had violated campaign finance laws more than 800 times.

The probe prompted the Washington state attorney general’s office to file a lawsuit in 2020 arguing that Facebook had violated a state law that requires businesses that sell political advertising to make information about those ads, and who paid for them, available for the public to inspect upon request.

A King County Superior Court Judge in 2022 ruled in favor of the state and levied $8.2 million in civil penalties and $3.5 million in attorney fees and costs against Meta. The judge then tripled both figures because Meta’s violations of state campaign law were found to be intentional, according to a PDC news release.

That ruling was appealed and the Division I Washington state Court of Appeals. It ruled Monday in favor of the state and upheld the $24.6 million penalty and $10.5 million in attorney fees and costs.

“The plain language of the disclosure law evidences its intent to preserve and sunlight relevant data of each individual ad on Meta’s social media platforms, without any requirement that any particular voter or the government step into the sunlight to inspect the records,” the opinion reads.

Gov.-elect and current Attorney General Bob Ferguson applauded the appellate decision to uphold the earlier ruling and penalty.

“Meta repeatedly and intentionally violated Washington campaign finance law,” Ferguson said in a news release. “This significant penalty is appropriate for a multinational corporation that intentionally violated our law, and, instead of accepting responsibility, sought to gut our best-in-the-nation campaign finance law.”

The penalty upheld Monday is believed to be the largest ever imposed for campaign finance violations in U.S. history, according to the PDC.

“More than 50 years ago, Washington state voters had the foresight to demand transparency in political spending,” Public Disclosure Commission Chair Allen Hayward said in the release. “The appellate court agrees with the PDC that disclosure applies equally to modern forms of political advertising.”

Washington’s campaign finance law requires digital advertisers to include information relating to the cost of the ad, the sponsor of the ad, as well as targeting and reach information, according to the attorney general’s news release.

Ferguson’s office also filed a lawsuit in 2018 that resulted in a consent decree that required Meta to pay $238,000 and included the company’s commitment to transparency in campaign finance and political advertising.

However, Meta continued the practice of running political ads in Washington without making the required information available for public inspection, which prompted the 2020 suit and the judgment on Monday.

Attorneys for Meta asked the judges to strike down the commercial advertiser transparency requirements, but the appellate judges ruled that the law is constitutional.

Attorneys also asked the appellate judges to reduce the penalties, but those argument were denied.