Facebook parent company Meta has been ordered to pay $10.5 million in legal fees to Washington state atop a nearly $25 million fine for repeated and intentional violations of campaign finance disclosure laws.
King County Superior Court Judge Douglass North issued the
legal-fee order Friday, two days after he hit the social media giant with what
is believed to be the largest campaign finance fine in the US history, The
Seattle Times reported.
North ordered the company to pay by wire transfer, check or
money order within 30 days. The money is to go to the state Public Disclosure
Commission, which enforces campaign finance laws.
North imposed the maximum fine allowed for more than 800
violations of Washington's Fair Campaign Practices Act, passed by voters in
1972 and later strengthened by the Legislature. Washington Attorney General Bob
Ferguson argued that the maximum was appropriate considering his office
previously sued Facebook in 2018 for violating the same law.
Meta, based in Menlo Park, California, did not immediately
respond to an email seeking comment, the newspaper reported.
The company previously said it was assessing its options
with respect to the ruling.
Washington's transparency law requires ad sellers such as
Meta to keep and make public the names and addresses of those who buy political
ads, the target of such ads, how the ads were paid for and the total number of
views of each ad. Ad sellers must provide the information to anyone who
requests it. Television stations and newspapers have complied with the law for
decades.
But Meta has repeatedly objected to the requirements,
arguing unsuccessfully in court that the law is unconstitutional because it
“unduly burdens political speech” and is “virtually impossible to fully comply
with.” While Facebook does keep an archive of political ads that run on the
platform, the archive does not disclose all the information required under
Washington's law.
In 2018, following Ferguson's first lawsuit, Facebook agreed
to pay $238,000 and committed to transparency in campaign finance and political
advertising. It subsequently said it would stop selling political ads in the
state rather than comply with the requirements.
Nevertheless, the company continued selling political ads,
and Ferguson sued again in 2020.
Meta, one of the world's wealthiest companies, reported
quarterly earnings Wednesday of $4.4 billion, or $1.64 per share, on revenue of
nearly $28 billion, in the three month period that ended September 30.
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