Weston Family Partnership LLLP v. Twitter, Inc., No. 20-17465 (9th Cir. 2022)
Annotate this CaseThe Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of a securities fraud lawsuit against Twitter under sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5, alleging that Twitter misled investors by hiding the scope of software bugs that hampered its advertisement customization. The panel concluded that securities laws do not require real-time business updates or complete disclosure of all material information whenever a company speaks on a particular topic. Rather, a company can speak selectively about its business so long as its statements do not paint a misleading picture. In this case, Twitter's statements about its advertising program were not false or misleading because they were qualified and factually true, and the company had no duty to disclose any more than it did under federal securities law.
Court Description: Securities Fraud. The panel affirmed the district court’s dismissal of a securities fraud lawsuit under §§ 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5, alleging that Twitter, Inc., misled investors by hiding the scope of software bugs that hampered its advertisement customization. Twitter shares users’ cell phone location data with companies that pay more for ads tailored to certain users, but it permits users to opt out of such data-sharing. In May 2019, Twitter announced that it had discovered software bugs that caused sharing of cell phone location data of its users, but it told its users that it had fixed the problems. In August 2019, Twitter announced that it had again accidentally shared user data with advertisers, even for those who had opted out, but it had “fixed these issues.” Twitter had not resolved the software bugs, but instead had stopped sharing user data altogether for its Mobile App Promotion advertising * The Honorable Jill A. Otake, United States District Judge for the District of Hawaii, sitting by designation. WESTON FAMILY PARTNERSHIP V. TWITTER 3 program, resulting in a drop in revenue. In October 2019, Twitter disclosed the software bugs and reported a revenue shortfall, and its share price dropped. The panel held that it had jurisdiction because plaintiffs appealed a non-final order dismissing with leave to amend, but the district court ultimately issued a final order and thus cured the premature notice of appeal under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(2). The panel held that plaintiffs’ complaint failed to state a claim under § 10(b) because Twitter’s statements were not false or materially misleading. The panel held that the securities laws do not require real-time business updates or complete disclosure of all material information whenever a company speaks on a particular topic. To the contrary, a company can speak selectively about its business so long as its statements do not paint a misleading picture. The panel held that Twitter’s statements about its advertising program were not false or misleading because they were qualified and factually true, and the company had no duty to disclose more than it did under federal securities law. Specifically, securities laws did not require Twitter to provide real-time updates about the progress of its Mobile App Promotion program. Further, plaintiffs did not plausibly or with particularity allege that the software bugs disclosed in August had materialized and affected revenue in July. In addition, Twitter’s July 2019 statements fell within the Exchange Act’s safe harbor provision for forward-looking statements. 4 WESTON FAMILY PARTNERSHIP V. TWITTER
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