SAN FRANCISCO—A federal district judge in California has officially dismissed a case lodged against Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, by the Adult Performance Artists Guild (APAG) accusing the Mark Zuckerberg-owned enterprise of engaging in a civil conspiracy with Fenix International Limited, owner of OnlyFans.com.
The conspiracy accused was an effort to blacklist adult performers on Meta-owned platforms who happen to use OnlyFans-competing platforms. U.S. District Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California dismissed the case before the scheduled trial date in October of this year.
Judge Alsup said that he had “no choice,” despite “questionable recordkeeping” by Facebook’s parent company, via Law360.com. Additionally, Judge Alsup chose to grant Meta’s motion for summary judgment because APAG’s performers had not produced the necessary evidence to support their case.
Alsup wrote, “There is no claim left to try … given that plaintiffs have been unable to produce the predicate data to move past the summary-judgment stage, judgment shall be entered accordingly. … The plaintiffs have developed no proof sufficient to go to a jury on any of these claims.”
AVN Hall of Famer Alana Evans, the president of APAG, initially filed suit in federal district court alongside other board members for the federally-recognized union.
The plaintiffs led by Evans alleged that Meta’s platforms demoted or removed their posts directly linking to platforms where they post adult-oriented content. It was alleged that Meta throttled performance on these posts and intentionally limited the reach of the posts due to being listed on a so-called dangerous individuals or organizations list.
Per AVN’s previous reporting, the APAG case has struggled on its merits, which resulted in Fenix International Limited, the parent company of OnlyFans, being removed from the case.
The plaintiffs were unable to establish personal jurisdiction in California.
They alleged that individuals employed in high positions at Meta Platforms in London conspired with Fenix to censor advertisements and block competitors.
