Qatari businessman settles case against Facebook over ‘fake ads’

High Court proceedings between UK-based Qatari businessman Wissam Al Mana and Facebook over the publication of “fake ads” using his name and image on the social media platform have been resolved.

Mr Al Mana brought an action before the Irish courts over adverts he said “wrongly and maliciously” used his name and image which were published by persons unknown to him using the Facebook ads tool.

The ads first appeared in 2019, but were later removed from the platform.

On Thursday, Mr Al Mana’s senior counsel, Paul O’Higgins, appearing with Anna Shanley BL, said the parties had settled the action but that the agreement has not yet “been committed to writing”.

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In light of that, counsel asked for the matter to be adjourned for a few weeks to allow for the implementation of the agreement.

Paul Gardiner SC, for Facebook, said his side was consenting to the matter being put back, adding that the settlement in relation to the full proceedings will be finalised.

No details of the settlement were given in open court.

A preliminary matter in the case, expected to last for three days, was listed for hearing before Mr Justice Mark Sanfey.

The judge agreed to put the matter back to a date in early December.

Mr Al Mana is the executive director of the Al Mana Group, which employs more than 3,000 people across more than 50 companies involved in sectors including property, technology, media, entertainment and retail.

He married the pop star Janet Jackson in 2012 but the pair separated in 2017.

In his action, the businessman claimed adverts contained a fake news article, using sensational headings and featuring his name and image, wrongly linking him to a cryptocurrency auto-trading program called Bitcoin trader which he has nothing to do with.

While the ads were removed following complaints made on his behalf, he remained concerned about the publication of future fake ads containing his name and image.

Mr Al Mana sought to sue Facebook Ireland Ltd, which is now known as Meta, and the parties behind the adverts for defamation and malicious falsehood.

In a pretrial motion listed before the court on Thursday, Mr Al Mana’s lawyers sought an order requiring Facebook to disclose details that would allow them to identify the unknown persons who placed the ads so he could bring proceedings against them.

The information he sought included their names and addresses, emails and phone numbers, details concerning the advertiser’s IP addresses, payment methods and billing address, and their business names.