Rafal Brzoska, a Polish billionaire, and his spouse intend to sue Meta for allegedly spreading false information about her on social media and for using his image in phoney Facebook and Instagram ads.
TakeAway Points:
- Polish billionaire Rafal Brzoska and his wife plan to sue Meta over fake advertisements on Facebook and Instagram that feature his face and false information regarding her circulating on the social media platforms.
- Brzoska and his wife demand that Meta stop benefiting from the promotion of content that violates their rights and that a large amount of compensation be donated to a charity, adequate to the level of advertising revenues from spreading this type of disinformation.
- Meta Platforms defeated an appeal by Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., challenging its censorship of Facebook posts that spread misinformation about vaccines’ efficacy and safety.
Meta is to be sued over fake advertisements
Brzoska said they have not yet decided on a jurisdiction to file the planned lawsuit, which would be another in a series of attempts globally to hold the internet giant accountable for ads that keep appearing even after users inform the company about problems.
A Meta spokesperson said the company removes false ads from its platforms when it learns about them and works with local authorities to battle scammers.
Brzoska, creator of Polish parcel locker company InPost, said he notified Meta of the problem beginning in July, but it failed to find a solution.
“We plan to file a private lawsuit against Meta… We have not yet determined in which jurisdictions we will sue Meta. We will decide in the next few weeks. We are considering absolutely all scenarios, including a lawsuit in the United States if there is inaction in Europe,” Brzoska said.
Brzoska said he and his wife would demand that Meta stop benefiting from the promotion of content that violates their rights and that a large amount of compensation be donated to a charity, adequate to the level of advertising revenues from spreading this type of disinformation.
Last week, the President of the Personal Data Protection Office obliged Meta Platforms Ireland Limited to stop the display of false advertisements using real data and the images of Brzoska and his wife on Facebook and Instagram in Poland for three months.
“Scammers use every platform available to them to defraud people and constantly adapt to evade getting caught. Scam content breaks our rules and we remove it when we find it,” a Meta spokesperson said in an e-mailed statement, adding the company was assessing the office’s decision.
“We also partner with businesses, local administrations, and law enforcement to defeat these committed criminals.”
Meta wins Children’s Health Defense in a lawsuit
Meanwhile, last Friday, Meta Platforms defeated an appeal by Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., challenging its censorship of Facebook posts that spread misinformation about vaccines’ efficacy and safety.
In a decision on Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California, said the nonprofit did not show that Meta worked with or was coerced by federal officials to suppress views challenging “government orthodoxy” on vaccines.
Children’s Health Defense sued in 2020, saying that Meta had violated its constitutional rights by flagging “vaccine misinformation” as false and taking away its right to advertise on Facebook.
Meta’s actions included prohibiting users from sharing claims that COVID-19 vaccines don’t work and referring viewers of Children’s Health Defense posts to the World Health Organization for facts about COVID-19.
Circuit Judge Eric Miller, appointed to the court by Republican former President Donald Trump, wrote for the appeals court that Meta was a “purely private” company with a First Amendment right not to use its platform to promote views it found distasteful.
“Meta evidently believes that vaccines are safe and effective and that their use should be encouraged. It does not lose the right to promote those views simply because they happen to be shared by the government.” Miller wrote.
The court also rejected Children’s Health Defense’s claims against the Poynter Institute and Science Feedback, which help Meta evaluate the accuracy of Facebook content.
Kennedy, an independent U.S. presidential candidate, helped argue Children’s Health Defense’s appeal. Meta the group’s accounts from Facebook and Instagram in August 2022.
Children’s Health Defense said it was disappointed with the decision and considering its legal options.
Its general counsel Kim Mack Rosenberg said the First Amendment “seems hollow” when the only speech protected and heard “reinforces the prevailing narrative.”
Meta and lawyers for the Menlo Park, California-based company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Circuit Judge Daniel Collins, also a Trump appointee, dissented from the decision, saying Children’s Health Defense could seek an injunction on its free speech claims. He agreed that its other claims, including for monetary damages, should be dismissed.
Friday’s decision upheld a June 2021 ruling by U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco.
The case is Children’s Health Defense v Meta Platforms Inc, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 21-16210.
