Femi Falana (SAN) has sued Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, parent company for Facebook and WhatsApp over an alleged privacy invasion demanding $5m settlement.
According to the Human Rights lawyer, Meta used his voice, image and name to advertise a health product. In the said advert, Falana was portrayed as suffering from Prostatitis which he said is false.
Falana stated that the action by Meta violated his fundamental privacy right according to 1999 Constitution (as amended) in section 37 and Sections 24(1)(A) and (E) & Section 34(1)(D) of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023. He claimed that Meta’s desire to boost engagement and ad revenue was the major driving force for approving the post even though it’s at his own detriment.
At the Lagos State High Court on February 3, 2025 when and where the human rights lawyer filed his suit, he said that the post made under a page on Facebook “Africare Health Centre” is misleading.
In the post however, Falana was portrayed as havin’ battled prostatitis for 16 years struggling with fatigue, urinary issues, and pain all the while all which he claimed were false and misleading.
Furthermore, Falana stated that he and the US-based organization never had any form of dealings or interactions concerning his health.
Therefore, Falana seeks that Meta deletes the false and misleading video immediately and is requesting for $5m in compensation for the distress their act which according to him, violated his privacy rights, caused him.
In the court document, Falana blamed Meta for publishing such post without proper verification of whether it was true.
However, the court has not fixed a date for the hearing yet.
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