Meta ignores user concerns
It appears that banning a user’s account without a good cause cost Facebook a lot of money. A US resident and lawyer filed a lawsuit against Facebook when the social media platform locked him from accessing his account. He succeeded in the legal dispute and the court ordered Facebook to reimburse him $50,000. When translated to Indian rupees, this is approximately INR. 41 lakhs.
Jason Crawford, a citizen of Columbus, filed a lawsuit against Facebook in 2022 shortly after they closed his account, which included numerous saved personal images. The Meta Platform, that additionally powers Instagram as well as WhatsApp, allegedly refused to cooperate with him to resolve the issue since “no valid reason” had been given.
Crawford said that Facebook failed to make it clear which activities or posts were against community standards. He said that when he opened the Facebook app after waking up one Sunday morning, he was immediately shut out. His ban was rendered obvious by Meta. He continued by adding that it just provided him with the most fleeting indication that he had transgressed their policies against child sexual exploitation. After that, it vanished.
He asserted that such a breach had never happened. Furthermore, Facebook did not say which of his acts or postings would have been in contravention of the guideline.
Course of action against Meta
Crawford claims that attempts to get in touch with Facebook’s parent firm Meta repeatedly failed and the problem remained unresolved. He was unable to dispute the decision or get in touch with Facebook’s customer service since such services were only available to those with current accounts. The ability to take action on this thing is like a dog pursuing its own tail, he remarked, because without an account, one has no method of submitting anything.
He previously earned a violation for making political remarks. However, he was not allowed to use Facebook at all this time.
He said, “I just think it’s bad business practice,” in response. It’s terrible how they’re treating him. He said that the business had to at the very least explain to him what it was that he did wrong.
In August 2022, Mr. Crawford, a legal professional himself, decided to file a lawsuit against Facebook, alleging negligence on the part of the firm, after growing impatient with the lack of responses. Facebook remained silent in the face of the complaint. It was as if he didn’t exist while Facebook was being managed by a group of ghosts or something, he stipulated. Later, after Facebook’s legal team remained silent, Meta was told to pay fifty thousand dollars.
I had, I don’t even know how you quantify it, pictures, videos, posts that come up as memories that I like to look at from time to time. You know, all that kind of stuff that I was not willing to let a bunch of bullies take away from me for no reason.
-Crawford
It is noteworthy that Facebook’s legal department made no comment even after the case was filed. However, after the judge directed Meta, which is the parent company of Facebook, to compensate Crawford $50,000 for negligence and indifference, the global corporation contacted the man and activated his account to take care of the issue.
They reactivated his account and he felt somewhat justified, as stated by Crawford. He also said that the reason for taking such a major digital corporation to court was not financial gain but rather to make Facebook responsible for its acts, which include an absence of transparency and an unwillingness to respond to people. His battle is still ongoing, though, because Facebook does not appear to be working with the judge and made no payment.
A massive worldwide user base makes Facebook one of the most well-known social media networking sites. On such a platform, the profile of an individual contains memories in the form of pictures, videos, comments, and so much more. For some people, losing these memories may be terrifying and upsetting. A proper warning and explanation of the reason for the violation should be given to the offender if they breach the community rules. Without a valid reason, an extreme measure like removing someone’s profile from the site, as in this instance, cannot be justified.
Additionally, Facebook and Meta’s silence on this topic has not improved the situation and just serves to highlight their careless and callous disposition towards the worries of its users. Such a large company like Meta, which ought to serve as a role model for other new enterprises, should not be acting in this manner.
Published By Naveenika Chauhan
