The District Court of Western Australia has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Australian mining billionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest against Meta. Forrest alleged that fraudulent cryptocurrency advertisements on Meta platforms, featuring his image, resulted in significant losses for innocent individuals. However, prosecutors determined that there was insufficient evidence to support his claims.
Forrest, who serves as the chairman of Fortescue Metals and is the second-richest individual in Australia, personally initiated criminal charges against Meta in February 2022 under the Commonwealth Criminal Code Anti-Money Laundering sections. He accused the social media giant of “knowingly profiting from this cycle of illegal ads” and failing to remove them. Prior to filing the lawsuit, Forrest obtained approval from the Australian attorney general.
In a letter addressed to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in November 2019, Forrest demanded that the company, which operates Facebook and Instagram, among other platforms, remove fraudulent ads and prevent the misuse of his image.
Meta pleaded not guilty to the charges in December 2023. A spokesperson for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions confirmed to Reuters that the lawsuit was dropped due to insufficient evidence but did not provide further details. In a statement given to The Guardian, Forrest expressed his disappointment with the outcome.
Meta spokesperson stated to Reuters, “Meta is committed to combating scams on its platforms and will continue to work tirelessly to prevent them and protect our users.”
Following the dismissal of the suit, Forrest filed a civil lawsuit against Meta in the California Northern District Court in June 2022. The lawsuit included six counts and alleged that “Facebook’s self-help advertising interface materially aided scammers in developing” the ads. In January, Meta filed a motion to dismiss this case.
Despite taking legal action against Meta, scams utilizing Forrest’s image have persisted. In February, Cybertrace discovered deep-fake images of Forrest in ads on Facebook. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, filed a lawsuit against two individuals in China on April 4, claiming that they were responsible for scam applications that had been downloaded over 100,000 times from the platform.
Magazine: Perth Crypto City Guide – A Wealthy Oasis with Stunning Beaches.