Human rights lawyer Mr Femi Falana SAN, has filed a $5 million (Five Million US Dollars) lawsuit before a Lagos High Court against the US-based company, Meta Platforms Inc., over an alleged invasion of his privacy.
In the originating motion, brought pursuant to Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Sections 24(1)(A) and (E) & 34(1)(D) of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023, and Order 2 Rule 1 of the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules 2009, Falana, through his lawyer, Olumide Babalola, accused the Meta of publishing motion images and a voice caption titled AfriCare Health Center on its website, falsely implying that he suffers from a medical condition known as prostatitis.
The lawyer contends that this publication constitutes a breach of his privacy, as guaranteed under Section 37 of the Nigerian Constitution.
Falana claimed the publication and the video as released through the organization’s platform -www.facebook.com, is “false, inaccurate, misleading and unfair to the Applicant and thereby violates the provision of section 24(1)(a) and (e) of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023.”
To this end, the reputable lawyer was praying the court for a declaration that the “Respondents continued publication of the Applicants name, still and motion images and purported voice on a page and video captioned “AfriCare Health Centre on their platform – www.facebook.com to the effect that the Applicant suffered from a disease known as ‘Prostatitis constitutes an invasion of the Applicants privacy guaranteed by section 37 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.”
Besides, he is praying the court for an order mandating the “Respondents to forthwith remove, erase and delete the video captioned “AfriCare Health Centre on their platform – www.facebook.com.”
For the damages the publication has caused him, Falana, was asking for a general damages in the sum of $5, 000, 000 (Five Million US Dollars) and a consequential order that the court may deem fit to grant in the circumstance.
He noted: “In video that carries my name, picture and purported video, I am reported to have said that: “My name is Femi Falana, and I have been battling prostatitis for over 16 years. At the age of 50, I was diagnosed with this condition. Every day I faced pain, discomfort and constant fatigue. I had trouble urinating lower back pain and other symptoms that made it difficult to live a full life. Despite consulting the best urologist in the country, no one could offer me effective treatment, I was prescribed numerous medications, physical therapy even surgery but the problem was that these methods only temporarily relieved the symptoms.”
“I have never had any dealing with the Respondent or its pages on issues with my health life. The video and its contents are false, inaccurate, misleading, and unfair to me. The video paints me in a false light and as such an invasion of my privacy.”
“For the purpose of this suit, I do not find these stories libelous 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 in a 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 Respondent’s 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.”
