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Wednesday 4 October 2023 Dublin: 15°C
Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP/Press Association Images
# Lawsuit
Facebook faces another lawsuit after being accused of faking endorsements
The lawsuit claims that members should receive damages – of at least $750 per person – for using their likeness without permission.

FACEBOOK HAS ANOTHER lawsuit to deal with after being accused of faking user endorsements on ads.

The latest complaint comes from US resident, Anthony Ditirro, who claims Facebook misrepresented him by saying he “liked” USA Today in a sponsored advertisement when he hadn’t.

The lawsuit says that by doing this, Facebook has violated a number of civil and business codes, and that members should receive damages – of at least $750 per person – for using their likeness without permission.

The lawsuit, uploaded and posted by CNET, says:

Although plaintiff has nothing negative to say about USA Today newspapers, plaintiff is not an avid reader of USA Today, nor does plaintiff endorse the newspaper… Defendant knowingly used plaintiff’s likeness and Facebook profile to advertise to the general public that plaintiff endorsed USA Today without plaintiff’s permission.

The company was recently sued for allegedly intercepting private messages and passing that information onto advertisers. Matt Cambell, an American lawyer and political blogger, filed the lawsuit back in December asking it to change its policy and give a monetary award for users whose messages were scanned. Facebook has denied both claims and says it will defend itself “vigourously.”

Facebook recently announced that it will “sunset” sponsored stories in April. The company announced back in June that it would cut the number of ad formats on its site from 27 to less than half.

Read: Facebook page of Limerick City of Culture is hacked >

Read: Facebook an unreliable way to judge future employees, study finds >

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