Meta lawsuit claims Facebook group slandered man

Facebook group lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Nikko D’Ambrosio claims Abbigail Rajala defamed him in a Chicago “Are We Dating The Same Guy?” Facebook group.
• Why: D’Ambrosio argues the Facebook group allows women to attack men without any oversight and with “total impunity.” 
• Where: The lawsuit was filed in Illinois federal court. 

A woman who posted about her dating experience in a Facebook group defamed a Chicago-area man by falsely accusing him of sexual assault, a new lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiff Nikko D’Ambrosio claims in the Meta lawsuit that Abbigail Rajala anonymously slandered him in an “Are We Dating The Same Guy?” Facebook group after they allegedly met at an event last year and engaged in consensual relations.

D’Ambrosio filed a lawsuit against Rajala and 29 other people, as well as the corporation and leader of the “Are We Dating The Same Guy?” network, plus Facebook owner Meta Platforms. 

“Women are permitted to make statements, publish photographs, defame, threaten, harass, belittle, or otherwise attack men whom they allege to have engaged in a dating relationship with void of any oversight and total impunity,” the lawsuit states. 

Facebook approved publishing of false and defaming statements, lawsuit says

D’Ambrosio claims Rajala published “provably false” statements about him in the Chicago “Are We Dating The Same Guy?” Facebook group — in addition to allegedly posting his photo — and removed and republished her statements anonymously after being contacted by him. 

Meta, meanwhile, ultimately had to have approved the allegedly false and defaming statements made about D’Ambrosio, as it is part of the platform’s “content moderation responsibilities,” the lawsuit alleges. 

“Thousands of men have been potentially defamed by members of the groups via online publications, and remain entirely unaware of the attacks on their character as a result of the social media group’s private status and heavily moderated member list,” the lawsuit states. 

D’Ambrosio brings claims of defamation per se, intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy by false light, civil conspiracy, unjust enrichment and public disclosure of private facts, among other things. 

The plaintiff is demanding a jury trial and requesting injunctive relief along with an award of compensatory and punitive damages. 

Meta also announced earlier this month that it will be setting the default settings for its teenage Instagram and Facebook users to the most restrictive content settings, in a purported effort to keep them safe. 

Have you been defamed on Facebook? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Marc Trent and Daniel Nikolic of Trent Law Firm PC.

The Facebook group lawsuit is D’Ambrosio, et al. v. Rajala, et al., Case No. 1:24-cv-00200, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Judge certifies class of child sex trafficking survivors in Pornhub lawsuit
• Citigroup lawsuit claims director experienced harassment, discrimination, assault
• Hockey player files lawsuit against Chicago Blackhawks alleging sexual assault
• Abercrombie & Fitch CEO leads sex-trafficking operation, class action claims