Facebook Class Action Filed over Birthday Texts

On February 12, 2016, Colin R. Brickman brought a class action lawsuit against Facebook, Inc. seeking to permanently halt the social media company’s practice of sending unsolicited birthday text messages. Brickman, on behalf of himself and each member of the potential class, is also pursuing an award of statutory damages of up to $1,500 against the company for every birthday text transmitted by Facebook without a recipient’s prior express consent.

In the class action complaint filed in the Northern District of California, Brickman alleges that his Facebook.com account “clearly indicate[d] that [he] expressly did not and does not consent to receive text messages of any kind from Facebook.” Nevertheless, on December 15, 2015, Brickman claims that Facebook used the cell phone number associated with his profile page and texted him, “Today is Jim Stewart’s birthday. Reply to post a wish on his Timeline or reply with 1 to post ‘Happy Birthday!’”

According to Brickman, by disseminating these birthday text messages without a user’s consent, Facebook has violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227 et seq. (the “TCPA”). The TCPA prohibits the use of artificial or prerecorded messages to call any telephone number assigned to a cellular telephone service, and has been interpreted to apply to text messages. Further, the statute provides that a person or entity may recover up to $500 in damages for each violation and treble damages in the court’s discretion if a defendant “willfully or knowingly violated” the TCPA.

The case is: Brickman v. Facebook, Inc., Docket No. 3:16-cv-00751 (N.D. Cal.)

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