Popular Viral Video Firm Sues Facebook over Russian Propaganda Label
The company behind In The Now, Soapbox and Waste-Ed is taking on media giant Facebook, who it claims is falsely labeling it as Russian state-controlled propaganda.
An online media company is suing social media giant Facebook for falsely smearing it as a Russian state-controlled propaganda outlet. Maffick, the owner of In The Now, Soapbox and Waste-Ed, has filed a lawsuit against Facebook in a Northern California district court for defamation, intentional interference and violating section 43(a) of the Lanham Act, unjustly causing them economic and reputational harm, claiming that Facebook’s actions represent unfair competitive practices.
Go to any of the Maffick-owned Facebook pages, including In The Now (4.9 million followers), which focuses on light-hearted news and social justice issues, Soapbox (320,000 followers), featuring politically opinionated videos, or Waste-Ed (216,000 followers), with content on environmental topics, and you are greeted with a warning from Facebook: “This publisher is wholly or partially under the editorial control of a state.” Maffick strenuously denies this, noting that its sole owner, Anissa Naouai, is a U.S. citizen living in California. “In doing all of these actions, Facebook has acted fraudulently, with actual malice and in reckless disregard for the truth,” the complaint alleges.
MintPress reached out to Naouai for comment, but, for legal reasons, she was hesitant to speak about the case specifically. Rania Khalek, who makes videos for Soapbox, however, was far more forthcoming. “Facebook has a list of criteria they came up with for what constitutes state-controlled media. We don’t meet any of the criteria on that list. But they still labeled us that way. And this comes after a couple of years of being relentlessly attacked by U.S.-government backed think tanks like the Atlantic Council…who have been trying to get us censored,” she told The Katie Halper Show.
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