A lawyer named Mark Zuckerberg is suing Facebook after the social network repeatedly deleted his page, claiming he was impersonating the head of Meta. Mark Stephen Zuckerberg, a bankruptcy lawyer from the US state of Indiana, says he has spent thousands of dollars promoting his services on Facebook, but his page has been blocked by the platform several times. Zuckerberg's lawyer says his life has been turned upside down by sharing the same name with the world's third-richest man, including death threats and incessant calls for technical assistance.
“It’s not funny,” he told local news channel WTHR. “Not when they take my money.”
He added that he had been using the name Mark Zuckerberg “much longer than he was” and was suing the company after years of unfairly removing his account. He said he had spent more than $11,000 (£8,000) on Facebook ads to promote his law practice, but his personal and business pages had been removed several times for “impersonating a celebrity.” Zuckerberg’s lawyer said it often took months to get his account back, causing business losses, and that the company had violated “fair trading” laws.
“I would prefer not to get into a conflict with them, but I don’t know how to stop them,” he said. “I don’t know what else I can do to get their attention.”
Mark Zuckerberg (not the Meta one) said he would be happy if the Meta billionaire (the real one) offered him a week on his luxury yacht. Zuckerberg's lawyer has a website documenting the ways in which sharing a name has affected his life. These include: being sued by Washington state for mistaken identity, having his phone turned off at night due to a constant barrage of notifications, receiving over 100 friend requests a day, and using a fake name when making reservations at restaurants that otherwise treat him as a joke. In one case, a limo driver with a sign bearing his name in Las Vegas was surrounded by fans eager to meet the Meta billionaire. Zuckerberg's lawyer has been practicing law for 38 years, when the youngest and wealthiest Mark Zuckerberg was just three years old.
Meta said: "We know that there is more than one Mark Zuckerberg in the world, and we are working to understand this situation."
The lawyer is seeking compensation for damages and legal expenses.
