Apple has been sued by consumers for false and misleading claims that three versions of its Apple Watch are "carbon neutral" and environmentally friendly.
In a complaint filed Wednesday in San Jose, California, federal court, seven buyers of the Apple Watch Series 9, SE and Ultra 2 with green stickers said they would not have bought the watches or would have paid less if they had known the truth.
Apple products like the Apple Watch Series 9, SE, and Ultra 2 are advertised as being carbon neutral and environmentally friendly.
Apple, best known for its iPhones, launched the watch in September 2023, claiming the device was carbon neutral through a combination of lower emissions and the purchase of carbon offsets. But the plaintiffs — from California, Florida and Washington, DC — said the two carbon offset projects Apple relied on to meet its emissions goals did not provide “real” carbon reductions.
They said much of the land in Kenya's Chyulu Hills Project lies within a national park that has been protected from deforestation since 1983, while the land in China's Guinan Project was heavily vegetated even before the project began in 2015.
“In both cases, the carbon reductions would have occurred regardless of Apple’s participation or the existence of the projects. Because Apple’s carbon neutrality claims are based on the effectiveness and legality of these projects, Apple’s carbon neutrality claims are false and misleading,” the complaint alleges.
The plaintiffs also said 70% of U.S. and Canadian consumers consider environmental sustainability an important factor when making purchases, citing a study by the National Retail Federation and IBM.
In a statement Thursday responding to the lawsuit, Apple did not specifically address the allegations, but provided information to defend the company’s environmental record. “Apple has significantly reduced Apple Watch emissions by more than 75 percent, and we are investing significantly in nature restoration projects to remove hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon from the air,” Apple’s response to the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuits against Apple do not specify damages sought.
The Cupertino, California-based company aims to be carbon neutral by 2030, including across its supply chain. Wednesday’s lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and an injunction to prevent Apple from marketing the three watches as carbon neutral.
In addition to the lawsuit at home, Apple is likely to face an antitrust fine as French regulators prepare to rule next month on the company's privacy controls.
Called App Tracking Transparency (ATT), the feature lets iPhone users decide which apps can track their activity, helping companies like Meta Platforms and online advertisers tailor ads to users and measure their impact. Digital advertising and mobile gaming companies including Meta say it makes it more expensive and harder for brands to advertise on Apple’s platforms.
The French regulator charged Apple in 2023, saying it was concerned the company might "abuse its dominant position by applying discriminatory, non-objective and non-transparent conditions for the use of user data for advertising purposes".
A decision is expected next month to order Apple to stop its anticompetitive behavior and potentially impose a fine, the people said, making it the regulator’s first veto against ATT. French antitrust fines can be as high as 10% of a company’s annual global revenue.
Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/nguoi-tieu-dung-cao-buoc-apple-quang-cao-san-pham-sai-su-that-va-gay-hieu-lam-192250228175317841.htm
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