Supreme Court tosses Facebook appeal in shareholder lawsuit arising from Cambridge Analytica data breach

Washington — The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed Facebook's appeal of a lower court order reviving a shareholder lawsuit brought against the social media giant in light of consulting firm Cambridge Analytica's 2015 misuse of millions of Facebook users' data.

In its first opinion of the term, the high court issued a one-line unsigned decision dismissing Facebook's appeal. The court's ruling indicates it believes it should not have taken up the case, though the Supreme Court did not explain its reasoning.

In tossing the appeal, the Supreme Court leaves in place a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in favor of Facebook shareholders. They had filed a securities fraud lawsuit against Facebook for allegedly misleading them in financial filings about the risks stemming from the massive data breach by Cambridge Analytica.