Femi Falana drags Meta to court for $5m over privacy violation

Human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has filed a $5 million lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc. at the Lagos High Court over an alleged invasion of his privacy.

Through his lawyer, Olumide Babalola, Falana accused Meta of publishing motion images and a voice clip captioned “AfriCare Health Center” on Facebook, falsely implying that he suffered from a disease known as Prostatitis, a claim he says violates his privacy rights under Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution.

The lawsuit was filed under Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Section 24(1)(A) and (E) & Section 34(1)(D) of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023, and Order 2 Rule 1 of the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules, 2009. Falana claimed that the publication on Facebook was false, misleading, and unfair, thereby breaching Nigeria’s Data Protection Act.

In his court documents, Falana is asking for a declaration that Meta’s continued publication of his name, image, and purported voice on the “AfriCare Health Center” video amounts to an invasion of his privacy. He is also seeking an order for Meta to remove and delete the video from Facebook immediately. Additionally, he is demanding $5 million in general damages for the harm caused to his reputation and any further orders the court deems fit.

Falana argued that the false publication had damaged his name, caused mental and emotional distress, and portrayed him in a misleading and offensive manner. He maintained that he had never suffered from Prostatitis, never had any dealings with Meta regarding his health, and had been unfairly targeted by the misleading video. He emphasized that Meta operates a global platform where millions of people have viewed the video since its publication in January 2023.