Nagpur: Facebook has been accused of allowing Netflix to access users’ private messages in exchange for data, according to recently revealed court documents. This revelation comes amid Meta’s decision to discontinue its streaming business, including original shows like Red Table Talk on Facebook Watch, last April as per a media report. Meta had decided to do away with the streaming business and attributed it to cost-cutting measures and layoffs within the company.
Meta’s communications head, Andy Stone has refuted the claims made in the lawsuit. Taking to Twitter, he wrote, “Shockingly untrue. Meta didn’t share people’s private messages with Netflix. The agreement allowed people to message their friends on Facebook about what they were watching on Netflix, directly from the Netflix app. Such agreements are commonplace in the industry.”
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Thursday 09 Jan. 2025
However, court documents filed in an antitrust lawsuit against Meta shed new light on the situation. The lawsuit alleges that Meta’s decision to shut down its streaming business was influenced by Netflix, one of its significant advertising partners. The lawsuit further accuses Meta of engaging in anti-competitive practices that harm social media competition and consumers.
According to the court documents, Netflix and Facebook had a strong relationship, largely because Netflix spent a lot of money on advertising on Facebook’s platform. The documents suggest that Netflix had some influence over negotiations to stop Facebook from competing with it in the streaming video market. Additionally, it’s claimed that Facebook allowed Netflix to see private messages of its users through agreements made as far back as 2013.
In exchange for this access, Netflix gave Facebook data about how users interacted with Netflix’s recommendations, such as how often they sent recommendations to others and how many clicks those recommendations received. Previously, Meta had claimed to have implemented end-to-end encryption for all personal chats and calls on Messenger and Facebook. However, reports indicate that Facebook allowed certain companies, including Netflix, to read users’ private messages. Meta has not provided a response to these allegations despite requests for comment.
According to the report, Netflix had increased its advertising spending on Facebook, reaching approximately $150 million per year by early 2019. It’s also alleged that Netflix entered into agreements with Facebook for increased access to data analytics during this period.
Meta, Facebook’s parent company, responded to these allegations by stating that its agreements and relationships with Netflix are common industry practices. However, they did not directly address whether competition with Netflix played a role in the decision to shut down Facebook Watch.
Court documents in anti-trust lawsuit filed against Meta states that the social media giant allowed Netflix to read Facebook users’ private messages. The lawsuit, filed in April 2023, alleges that Facebook’s parent company gave Netflix access to its users’ personal data for nearly a decade, violating privacy rules. It further adds that Facebook received millions in ad revenues from the streaming giant as part of their close ties, per Fox Business. It also claims that Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings joined Facebook’s board of directors and demands his clarification on the same.
