Mining Tycoon Andrew Forrest's Lawsuit Against Meta Dropped due to Lack of Evidence
Summary:
The Western Australia District Court has discontinued the lawsuit lodged by Australian mining billionaire, Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, against Meta, citing lack of evidence. Forrest asserted that scam cryptocurrency ads featuring his image on Meta's platforms led to substantial financial losses. Despite Meta's denial of the charges, Forrest criticized the tech giant for failing to curtail scam activities. The tycoon had also filed a civil suit in California earlier, accusing Facebook's ad interface of facilitating scammers.
The Western Australia District Court has discontinued proceedings of a lawsuit lodged by Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, an Australian mining tycoon, against Meta. Forrest initiated the lawsuit in response to scam cryptocurrency advertisements featuring his image on Meta platforms, which he claims contributed to significant financial loss for undiscerning individuals. The case's sponsors cited a lack of ample evidence as reason for discontinuation.
Forrest, who chairs Fortescue Metals and is Australia's second wealthiest individual, raised criminal accusations against Meta in February 2022, citing anti-money laundering provisions within the Commonwealth Criminal Code. Forrest argued that the tech behemoth was capitalizing from periodic illicit advertisements and had neglected to eliminate such ads. To lodge this suit, he required authorization from Australia's attorney general.
In an open-ended correspondence to Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's CEO, from November 2019, Forrest demanded that Meta, the entity behind Facebook and Instagram, takes down deceptive advertisements and restricts any illegitimate use of his image.
In a related story, a Bitcoin Investment scam, presented as being endorsed by 'Elon Musk', was promising a 4,000% return on investment.
Meta refuted the charges in December. A representative of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions verified to Reuters that due to lack of evidence, the lawsuit has been discontinued — withholding any further elucidation. In a statement extending to The Guardian, Forrest expressed his exasperation, asserting Facebook's immunity towards Australian law, while pointing out the rising grave concern towards scam activities targeting innocent, hardworking Australians on social media platforms shirking off their responsibilities.
A Meta representative reassured Reuters that they are committed to barring scams on their platforms, vowing to relentlessly continue their measures to avert scams, ensuring safety for their users.
Forrest also filed a civil suit against Meta earlier in June 2022 in California Northern District Court, attributing six offenses while alleging that Facebook's advertising interface paved ways for scammers to develop deceitful ads. Meta initiated a petition to dismiss this case in January.
Following Forrest's legal actions against Meta, deceptive promotions using his image continue to emerge as per evidence found by Cybertrace, who discovered deep-fake imageries of Forrest on Facebook ads in February. Two individuals from China were recently sued by Alphabet, Google's parent entity, on April 4 for developing scam applications that exceeded over 100,000 downloads from their platform.
Published At
4/12/2024 7:25:10 PM
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