Yokohama, Oct. 15 (Jiji Press)–Yokohama District Court on Thursday dismissed a damages lawsuit against U.S. social media giant Meta Platforms Inc. and its Japanese unit over fake ads using the names and images of celebrities without permission. The court in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, was the first to rule on a series of similar lawsuits filed with six district courts across Japan. The Yokohama lawsuit was filed by six investment fraud victims and one company. They plan to appeal the ruling. The plaintiffs demanded a total of about 43 million yen in damages, claiming that Meta was aware that fake ads were rampant on its social media platforms, including Facebook, and could have easily removed them, but left them online, allowing people to fall victim to scams. However, the court found that it was difficult to conclude that Meta could have easily recognized the ads as fraudulent and fake at the time of their publication. The court did not acknowledge that Meta had received information indicating that the ads were fake when the plaintiffs viewed them between April and November 2023, or that Japanese entrepreneurs Yusaku Maezawa and Takafumi Horie had demanded the deletion of ads using their names. “Meta was not necessarily obliged to investigate and verify the truthfulness of the ads and prevent them from appearing on Facebook and other platforms,” Presiding Judge Katsumi Takagi said. At a press conference in Yokohama later on Thursday, Takako Shirota, an attorney for the plaintiffs, called the court decision “unjust” and said it “condones the proliferation of fake ads and could lead to further harm from investment fraud through social media.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
