Facebook asks US supreme court to dismiss fraud suit over Cambridge Analytica scandal

Securities fraud lawsuit brought by shareholders accuses the social media platform of misleading them about misuse of user data

The US supreme court grappled on Wednesday with a bid by Meta's Facebook to scuttle a federal securities fraud lawsuit brought by shareholders who accused the social media platform of misleading them about the misuse of user data.

The justices heard arguments in Facebook's appeal of a lower court's decision allowing the 2018 class action suit led by Amalgamated Bank to proceed. The suit seeks unspecified monetary damages in part to recoup the lost value of the Facebook stock held by the investors. It is one of two cases coming before them this month - the other one involving artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia on 13 November - that could lead to rulings making it harder for private litigants to hold companies to account for alleged securities fraud.