Forrest, Australia's richest man and chairman of Fortescue
Metals Group, said he was taking the action to stop people losing money to
clickbait advertising scams, such as ones using his image to promote
cryptocurrency schemes.
The lawsuit filed by Forrest in the Magistrates Court of
Western Australia alleges Facebook "failed to create controls or a
corporate culture to prevent its systems being used to commit crime."
It also alleges Facebook was criminally reckless by not
taking sufficient steps to stop criminals from using its social media platform
to send scam advertisements to defraud Australian users.
The lawsuit comes after Forrest said he made several
requests asking Facebook to prevent his image from being used to promote
investment plans, including in an open letter to Chief Executive Mark
Zuckerberg in November 2019.
Facebook, which changed its name to Meta last year, declined
to comment on the lawsuit but said that in general it has always taken a
"multifaceted approach" to stop such ads appearing and had blocked
advertisers.
"We're committed to keeping these people off our
platform," a spokesperson for Meta said in an emailed statement.
Some advertisements, which have used Forrest's image and
claimed to promote cryptocurrency investment schemes, have appeared on Facebook
since March 2019, the lawsuit said.
"This action is being taken on behalf of those everyday
Australians – Mums and Dads, Grans and Grandads – who work all their lives to
gather their savings and to ensure those savings aren't swindled away by
scammers," Forrest said in a statement.
Under Australian law, a private prosecution of a foreign
corporation for alleged offences under the Commonwealth Criminal Code requires
the consent of the country's attorney general.
"The Attorney-General has given her consent to the
private prosecution against Facebook in relation to alleged offences under subsection
400.7(2) of the Criminal Code," said Steven Lewis, principal of Mark
O'Brien Legal, which will represent Forrest in the case.
The office of Attorney General Michaelia Cash did not
immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
If Facebook is found guilty, it will face a maximum penalty
of AUD 126,000 on each of three charges, Lewis said.
An initial hearing has been set for March 28, Forrest said.
In September last year, Forrest filed a separate civil case
against Facebook in the Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo.
Facebook has been under pressure in Australia after
disagreeing initially with a new law that required it and Google to pay for
links to media companies' content. © Reuters
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