Renowned human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has filed a $5 million lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, for allegedly invading his privacy.

We gathered that the suit, lodged before a Lagos High Court, accuses the social media giant of falsely associating him with a misleading health advertisement.

Falana contends that Meta, owned by Mark Zuckerberg, published a video under the name “AfriCare Health Center” on Facebook, falsely claiming that he had been battling prostatitis for over 16 years.

He argues that this publication, which included his name, image, and purported voice, is a clear violation of his fundamental right to privacy as enshrined in Section 37 of the Nigerian Constitution (as amended) and the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023.

Through his legal counsel, Olumide Babalola, Falana is seeking a court declaration that Meta’s publication constitutes an invasion of his privacy.

He has also requested an order compelling Meta to immediately ‘remove, erase, and delete’ the misleading video from its platform.

The Legal Basis of the Suit

The lawsuit, filed under the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules, 2009, emphasizes that:

– Falana has never suffered from prostatitis, contrary to what was stated in the viral video.

– The misleading publication has caused him significant emotional distress, tarnishing his reputation built over decades.

– Meta’s failure to verify the authenticity of the information before publication demonstrates ‘recklessness and negligence’, as the video was widely viewed by millions worldwide.

According to Falana, the video falsely attributed a statement to him: “My name is Femi Falana, and I have been battling prostatitis for over 16 years. At the age of 50, I was diagnosed with this condition. Every day I faced pain, discomfort, and constant fatigue. I had trouble urinating, lower back pain, and other symptoms that made it difficult to live a full life. Despite consulting the best urologist in the country, no one could offer me effective treatment. I was prescribed numerous medications, physical therapy, even surgery, but the problem was that these methods only temporarily relieved the symptoms.”

Falana insists he never made such a statement and has no connection to the AfriCare Health Center.

He described the publication as false, misleading, and defamatory, adding that it was aimed at driving traffic to Meta’s platform for commercial gain at his expense.

In addition to the $5 million in damages, Falana is urging the court to issue an order preventing Meta from publishing ‘false and misleading’ content about him or any other individual without proper verification.

He further stated: “For the purpose of this suit, I do not find these stories libelous but since they are false and fabricated against me, I find them offensive, reckless, insensitive, disturbing and unjustifiable intrusion into my privacy by painting me in a false light.

“By the video, the Respondent’s page has given me a publicity that paints me in false light as the insinuations in the video are false and they infringe my right to privacy right to be let alone.

“At the time of deposing to this affidavit, the video has been published to the entire world on the Internet, and it has remained there for several weeks.

“For their failure to verify the page and video before publishing, I believe the Respondent’s publicity of my name and image in a false light was done carelessly and recklessly to draw traffic to the Respondent’s platform to boost its advertisement revenues.

“I believe that the Respondents use of my name and image in the video is unfair and insensitive to my feelings since they never verified the claims as expected.

“I find the Respondents’ publicity of my photograph and name in a false light highly offensive and emotionally disturbing. This continues to cause me anxiety, sadness and exposure to ridicule.”

Falana lamented that the viral video had subjected him to public ridicule, emotional distress, and unnecessary scrutiny, emphasizing that his health is a private matter and should not be exploited for commercial purposes.

Credit: NaijNews