Judge Declares that Simply Being Aware of Facebook Makes You Subject to Their Terms of Service

Washington – Judge Anthony Carbassi today ruled against the plaintiff in McKensey v. Meta, declaring that Ms. McKensey was indeed subject to the Facebook Terms of Service, and therefore could not sue the company in court.

McKensey had brought the suit after finding pictures of herself posted to the social network, though she herself was not a user and had never consented to sharing of the images.

"Users of the service," wrote Judge Carbassi in his opinion, "are not required or even expected to read the full terms of service before using the service." Moreover, he continued, "the plaintiff clearly knew of Facebook, and therefore should have understood that its contractual terms applied to her."

This means McKensey must bring her complaint to binding arbitration, as required in the terms of service. Meanwhile, the images will remain posted on Facebook.

The decision was cheered by industry groups which have long argued that customers have too much power when it comes to accepting contracts about products and services.

The ACLU issued a statement promising promised to appeal the decision.

Facebook, and Meta, its parent company, declined to comment for this article.