Falana took legal action against Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, requesting $5 million for the privacy invasion.

 

Femi Falana, a senior Nigerian human rights lawyer and advocate, has filed a lawsuit for $5 million against Meta Platforms Inc.., the parent company of Facebook. He accused the tech giant of violating his privacy by publishing misleading information about his health. The lawsuit was initiated at the Lagos High Court.

 

Falana is being represented by Olumide Babalola, his lawyer, brought the case under Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Sections 24(1)(A) and (E), and Section 34(1)(D) of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023. According to him, Meta falsely reported having been battling prostatitis for more than 16 years by publishing a video and motion images on Facebook under the page 'AfriCare Health Centre'.

 

Falana asserted that the publication violated his privacy rights and was in violation of Nigeria's Data Protection Act. "The video and its contents are false, inaccurate, misleading, and unfair to me, Falana stated that the video portrays me in a misleading way and is an invasion of my privacy.

 

The human rights lawyer observed the fake claims in the video, which falsely assigned the following 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 urologists 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 asserted that the claims were strongly refuted, "I have never suffered any disease known as prostatitis in my life. My health life is part of my private life, and the publication is entirely false, offensive, and fabricated." He added that he has had no dealings with Meta or the "AfriCare Health Centre" page.

 

The legal practitioner expressed regret for the publication's impact on his reputation, saying, 'The video has greatly prejudiced me.' It has portrayed me in a false light, exposed me to ridicule, and resulted in emotional and psychological distress for me. He highlighted that the video has been watched by millions worldwide since its release, which magnifies the harm.

 

Falana further alleged Meta of negligence, declaring, "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."

 

According to him, the video was reckless, insensitive, disturbing, and an unjustifiable invasion of my privacy, adding, "I find the Respondent’s use of my name and image highly offensive and emotionally disturbing. This continues to cause me anxiety, sadness, and exposure to ridicule."

 

Falana is also seeking a court order to remove the video and stop publishing the false claims, along with the $5 million in damages. By filing this suit, he asked the court to safeguard his reputation and fundamental right to privacy.