Femi Falana Files $5 Million Suit Against Meta Over Alleged Privacy Invasion

Renowned Nigerian Human Rights Attorney, Femi Falana, SAN, has initiated a $5 million lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, alleging a breach of privacy.

Naijaonpoint reports that the lawsuit was filed in the Lagos High Court, where Falana contends that Meta infringed upon his rights by disseminating misleading information regarding his health.

In the fundamental rights suit submitted by his attorney, Olumide Babalola, Falana accuses Meta of posting a video on Facebook, under the “AfriCare Health Center” page, which falsely asserted that he was suffering from ‘Prostatitis.’

The attorney claims that this act constitutes a violation of his privacy rights as protected by Section 37 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution.

Falana further contends that the publication, which featured moving images and voice captions allegedly linked to him, was “false, inaccurate, misleading, and unjust.”

He referenced a breach of Section 24(1)(a) and (e) of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 and demanded the immediate removal of the content from the platform.

In his legal requests, Falana seeks a declaration affirming that Meta’s publication infringed upon his fundamental right to privacy.

Additionally, he is asking for an order that would require Meta to remove the video and is seeking a general damages award of $5 million for the reputational and emotional distress he has endured.

Falana, a prominent champion of human rights and legal responsibility, conveyed significant concern regarding the deceptive material.

The video in question purportedly showed him recounting a false narrative about his 16-year struggle with Prostatitis, including symptoms like pain, discomfort, and urinary complications.

Nonetheless, Falana firmly asserts that he has never experienced this condition and did not give permission for the creation of such content.

“The video and its contents are false, inaccurate, misleading, and unfair to me. It paints me in a false light and constitutes an unjustifiable intrusion into my privacy,” Sahara Reporters quoted Falana to have stated in his affidavit.

He further argued that the global reach of Meta’s platforms means the false publication has been viewed by millions of people worldwide since its posting in January 2025.

He accused Meta of carelessly and recklessly using his name and image to attract traffic to its platform and boost advertising revenues.

Legal Implications and Meta’s Responsibility Falana emphasised that Meta’s actions have caused him significant emotional distress, exposing him to undue scrutiny, ridicule, and reputational damage.

According to Falana, “For the purpose of this suit, I do not find these stories libellous but since they are false and fabricated against me, I find them offensive, reckless, insensitive, disturbing and unjustifiable intrusion into my privacy by painting me in a false light.

“By the video, the respondent’s page has given me publicity that paints me ina  false light as the insinuations in the video are false, and they infringe my right to privacy right to be let alone.

“At the time of deposing to this affidavit, the video has been published to the entire world on the Internet, and it has remained there for several weeks.

“For their failure to verify the page and video before publishing, I believe the respondent’s publicity of my name and image in a false light was done carelessly and recklessly to draw traffic to the respondent’s platform to boost its advertisement revenues.

“I believe that the respondents’ use of my name and image in the video is unfair and insensitive to my feelings since they never verified the claims as expected.

“I find the respondents’ publicity of my photograph and name in a false light highly offensive and emotionally disturbing. This continues to cause me anxiety, sadness and exposure to ridicule.”

Falana prayed to the court for a rescue and to save his image from being ruined.