Cumulative impact: A class action case has been launched against Meta in Australia (Midjourney)
Meta is facing an Australian class action claim over its allegedly addictive and harmful social media platforms, as the tech giant reports another bumper quarter for its global advertising business.
Law firm Minter Ellison has filed the class action on behalf of children and teenagers — whose identities have been suppressed — who claim to have suffered harm on Facebook and Instagram.
Funded by commercial funder Litigation Lending Services, the case is due to have its next court hearing on 3 November. In a press release statement shared with Mumbrella, Minter Ellison partner David Taylor said: “The claims include allegations about Meta’s awareness of potential harm to children and its use of features designed to encourage engagement.”
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“We are aware of this claim and we will defend ourselves vigorously,” a Meta spokesperson told Mumbrella.
First reported by the AFR, news of the case coincides with Meta’s third-quarter 2026 earnings, released overnight, which showed global revenue rose 26% to US$64b (A$91.3b). The company’s headcount fell 15% year-on-year to 66,775 as of 30 September.
Advertising accounted for more than 98% of Meta’s revenue, with the remainder generated by its family of apps and reality labs divisions. Asia-Pacific contributed roughly US$11b, or 17%, of the company’s advertising revenue.
Average prices per ad rose 14% globally year-on-year, although growth was largely flat in Asia-Pacific.
Meanwhile, Meta’s costs and expenses increased 68% to around US$51b, including a US$9.89b charge related to an agreement concerning litigation over teen mental health and social media.
The tech giant noted that excluding the charge, operating income would have increased from US$13b to US$23b.
Meta’s legal issues are not restricted to Australia. Overnight, a court in New Mexico in the US ordered the digital giant to pay US$25b in relation to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which marketers for Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign used data from millions of Facebook users without obtaining their consent.
The Associated Press reported that Meta plans to appeal the ruling.
The penalty is equivalent to around 39% of Meta’s third-quarter revenue and 41% of its US$60.5b net profit in FY25.
The potential compensation arising from the Australian class action remains unclear, with prospective claimants being encouraged to register at socialmediaclaim.com.au.
Eleanor Dickinson is a journalist with more than a decade of experience across the UK, Middle East, Asia and Australia. She served as editor of Mumbrella Asia from 2017 to 2018, before spending seven years reporting on technology in Australia. She returned to Mumbrella as chief reporter in September 2025.
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