Mark Zuckerberg sues Meta… and it's not who you think
What's the story
Mark Zuckerberg, a bankruptcy attorney from Indiana, is suing Meta over repeated confusion with CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The attorney claims that Meta has suspended his business account five times and personal account four times in the last eight years. He accuses the tech giant of negligence and breach of contract for shutting down his pages under false name impersonation charges. Referring to different middle names, the lawyer said, "I'm Mark Steven. And he's Mark Elliot."
Account reinstatement
Attorney claims thousands of dollars lost in the process
Despite numerous emails and apologies from Meta, the attorney's accounts have been suspended multiple times. Each suspension has reportedly taken months to resolve. The last time it took him six months to get his account back. The attorney claims these prolonged absences from Facebook have cost him thousands of dollars in advertising and client communication costs.
Legal demands
Willing to accept a personal apology from CEO Zuckerberg
The attorney is now seeking Meta to permanently restore his suspended Facebook accounts and compensate him for the fees and ad money lost during the suspension periods. He also expressed willingness to accept a personal apology from the billionaire tech CEO. "If he wants to fly here personally and say 'I'm sorry,' or maybe let me spend a week on his boat to say I'm sorry, I'd probably take him up on that," said the attorney.
Meta's response
Meta responds to lawsuit
In response to the lawsuit, a Meta spokesperson said that they have reinstated attorney Zuckerberg's account after finding it had been disabled in error. The spokesperson added, "We appreciate Mr. Zuckerberg's continued patience on this issue and are working to try and prevent this from happening in the future."
Name-related issues
Attorney has created a website detailing his struggles
The attorney has also created a website, iammarkzuckerberg.com, detailing how his life has been affected by sharing a name with the tech giant. He said, "I can't use my name when making reservations or conducting business as people assume I'm a prank caller and hang up."