Man sues Facebook for $500 000

The New York Post reports Mustafa Fteja of the city’s Staten Island borough is suing Facebook for half a million US dollars, after the social networking site cut off “his access to friends and family around the world, as well as to personal memories and photos”.

The 39-year old said he has asked Facebook for months to provide an explanation, but has received no response to date. “You call, they don’t answer the phone. You write, they don’t reply,” he said, adding he had no other option apart from legal action to acquire what his property back.
“I lived in a communist country where people had no rights. This looks the same to me,” the Montenegro native argued.

Facebook did at one point inform Fteja that he had violated Facebook’s terms of agreement, which usually involves posting objectionable content.

“I know one thing — I didn’t do anything. I didn’t violate anything,” he objects, adding he would not be suing if that was the case.

This case is not the first incident of lawsuits against Facebook. In 2008, the world-famous technology blog TechCrunch sued for US$25-million after attorneys argued that the use of founder Michael Arrington’s image and name in third party advertising was a violation of his statutory and common law publicity rights.

One year later a New York teenager opted to sue her former classmates, their parents and Facebook for US$3-million, claiming they used the social networking site to bully her.

At first glance, Fteja’s lawsuit seems amusing and opportunistic, but further reflection reveals just how deeply we have come to rely on Facebook as a tool of communication, particularly for people who are living away from their homes and their families.

Fteja is an Albanian living in New York and had 340 Facebook friends when he was cut off.

“I had the Facebook for one purpose — to keep in contact with my family,” Fteja told The Daily News.