Andrew Forrest has filed a legal lawsuit against Facebook in San Mateo, California’s superior court. He has accused Facebook of “misappropriation of likeness,” “aiding and abetting fraud,” and “negligent failure to warn” for failing to prevent crypto scam advertisements from running under his name. Facebook has denied Andrew Forrest’s allegations that the company’s terms of service shield it from liabilities in court filings. Facebook claims that because Andrew Forrest has a Facebook account, he has accepted the terms of service.
Forrest claims that his reputation has suffered as a result of the fraudulent advertising. He goes on to say that Facebook is not only a platform, but also an ad publisher. According to Forrest’s lawyers’ court filing:
“Facebook isn’t only giving bad actors tools to carry out fraudulent activities. Instead, Facebook is employing its sophisticated technique of data collection and then using that data to engage its users for extended periods of time with information, advertisements, and other material, regardless of the nature of that content.”
First and foremost, Facebook claims to be protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of the United States. This restricts websites’ responsibility for third-party content placed on their platforms. Facebook also stated that because Forrest has an official account on Facebook, he has abided by the rules of service. It continues:
Section 4.3 of the TOS specifically states that Facebook is “provided” as is, that Facebook “make[s] no guarantees that [the platform] will always be safe, secure, or error-free,” that Facebook “do[es] not control or direct what people and others do or say,” and that Facebook “is] not responsible for their actions or conduct (whether online or offline) or any content they share (including offensive, inappropriate, obscene, or unlawful).”
Andrew Forrest has also filed a criminal complaint in the Western Australian magistrates court. In this case, he claims that Facebook violated federal money laundering rules by failing to block the advertising.
