WA campaign finance laws were intentionally violated by Facebook parent Meta, judge says
A King County Superior Court Judge ruled in favor of Washington’s campaign finance transparency laws Friday, striking a blow against Facebook’s parent company Meta.
Judge Douglass A. North granted Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s motion for summary judgment against Meta at a hearing Friday. Ferguson initially filed the motion in July, claiming the company had “committed hundreds of intentional violations” since 2018, according to a press release from Ferguson’s office.
Meta has been sued twice in Washington for not disclosing campaign advertising records, once in 2018 and more recently in 2020. Ferguson’s summary judgment granted by the judge Friday was part of the 2020 lawsuit against the company, after the company “continued to run Washington political ads without maintaining the required information.”
North agreed that Meta “repeatedly and intentionally violated the law and must pay penalties,” according to the news release. Those penalties were not handed down Friday, but will be decided on at a later date. Washington state law allows for penalties up to $10,000 per offense, but because the judge agreed Meta intentionally violated the law, that amount can be tripled.
Meta had filed their own motion for summary judgment asking for parts of the campaign finance law to be struck down, which North denied.
The campaign finance transparency law has been in effect in Washington since 1972 after being adopted by an initiative. It requires advertisers such as Meta to keep records of information about their ads, such as cost and information regarding targeting and reach. The law also requires advertisers to make that information available to the public.
Penalties paid will be added to the State Public Disclosure Transparency Account, in accordance with state law.
Meta was ordered to pay $238,000 in penalties after the 2018 lawsuit.
This story was originally published September 2, 2022 at 4:24 PM with the headline "WA campaign finance laws were intentionally violated by Facebook parent Meta, judge says."
