Facebook files lawsuit for fake followers
Facebook and Instagram have filed a lawsuit in a United States court against an Upper Hutt company and three people based in New Zealand alleging they helped people create fake Instagram followers.
Facebook spokesman Ben McConaghy said the company was Social Media Series Ltd, which has a registered address on McCarthy Grove in Upper Hutt.
In a statement attributed to its US-based litigation director Jessica Romero, Facebook alleged the company and people named in the lawsuit ‘‘operated a service that provided fake likes, views and followers to Instagram users’’.
‘‘The complaint alleges the company and individuals used different companies and websites to sell fake engagement services to Instagram users,’’ Romero said.
The Companies Office lists the three directors of Social Media Series as Leon Francis Hedges and Arend Alexander Hubert Nollen, both of Upper Hutt, and David James Pekka Pasanen, of Lower Hutt.
Romero said Facebook had previously suspended accounts associated with the defendants and ‘‘formally warned them in writing that they were in violation of our terms of use, however their activity persisted’’.
‘‘By filing the lawsuit, we are sending a message that this kind of fraudulent activity is not tolerated on our services, and we will act to protect the integrity of our platform,’’ she said.
Having a large number of followers can generate revenue for people using social media, for example if they are marketing themselves as ‘‘influencers’’ to consumer brands.
McConaghy said the action had been filed in the US because that was where Facebook was based.
He believed the US court would have jurisdiction because the fraudulent activity was happening on its platform.
Comment has been sought from Facebook about whether and how any US court ruling would be enforceable in New Zealand.
The lawsuit asks the court to prevent the defendants from engaging and profiting from the sale of fake ‘‘likes, views and followers’’ on Instagram, violating its terms of use and community guidelines, and violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and other Californian laws for distributing fake likes on Instagram.
Facebook said it devoted ‘‘significant resources to detecting and stopping this behaviour’’, for example by blocking the creation and use of fake accounts, and it used machinelearning technology to find and remove unauthentic activity from Instagram.
Facebook agreed on Wednesday to send one of its top executives to a summit meeting, which will be hosted by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron, in Paris next month to try to agree on ways to clamp down on violent and extremist social media content, after the Christchurch mosque shootings.
The US legal action was not related to events in Christchurch, McConaghy said.
‘‘By filing the lawsuit, we are sending a message that this kind of fraudulent activity is not tolerated on our services . . .’’