Written by Haim Ravia and Dotan Hammer
The Israeli Supreme Court ruled that individuals and small businesses in Israel who use Facebook’s advertisement services may, in certain cases, assert civil claims against Facebook in Israel and under Israeli law. The governing law provision in Facebook’s terms, which provides that all lawsuits against Facebook will be asserted in California courts and under California law, is inconsequential.
The court held that Facebook’s choice of law clause is unduly disadvantageous to consumers who are individuals and small businesses and cannot bear the costs of foreign litigation. The State of Israel, being a sovereign state, cannot support the “outsourcing” of contract laws, and cannot allow a global enterprise to determine which foreign law applies to transactions conducted in Israel. Therefore, the Supreme Court voided the governing law provision and held that consumers whose main geographical nexus is to Israel may assert civil claims against Facebook under Israeli law.
CLICK HERE to read the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of Miller et al. v Facebook Ireland Limited (in Hebrew).
