Archives: Controversies

Facebook received criticism from various green activists in 2010 for its decision to establish its newest data centre in Prineville, Oregon. Greenpeace took issue with the fact that the new data centre's electricity would be provided by Pacific Power which generates 60% of its electricity from coal.

On June 30, 2010, Paul Ceglia, the owner of a wood pellet fuel company in Allegany County, New York, filed a lawsuit against Zuckerberg, claiming 84% ownership of Facebook as well as additional monetary damages. The judge eventually dismissed Ceglia's claim as fraudulent.

In 2010, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) identified two personal information aggregation techniques called "connections" and "instant personalisation." Those demonstrated that anyone could get access to information saved on a Facebook profile, even if the information was not intended to be made public. In December 2012, CBS News reported that Randi Zuckerberg, sister of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, also fell victim to the social media network's confusing privacy settings when a private image of her was shared publicly.

In March 2010, Judge Richard Seeborg issued an order approving the class settlement in Lane v Facebook, Inc. This lawsuit charged that users' private information was being posted on Facebook without their consent using Facebook's Beacon program.

On November 17, 2009, Rebecca Swift, on behalf of herself and all other similarly situated, filed a class action lawsuit against Zynga Game Network Inc and Facebook, Inc in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California for violation of the Unfair competition law and the Consumers Legal Remedies Act, and for unjust enrichment. The lawsuit alleged the companies were liable for the scammy actions of their advertisers.

On February 4, 2009, Facebook made changes to its terms of use which went unnoticed until blogger Chris Walters noticed the change on February 15, 2009. Walters post for the consumer-oriented blog, The Consumerist led to many users voicing their opinions against the new changes.

In 2009, leading Italian anti-mafia activists expressed alarm at several Facebook pages dedicated to praise Italian mafia bosses which attracted hundreds of young admirers. Spurted by the row about these Facebook groups, Italian politicians introduced a new measure to vote on which ordered Italian internet providers to block pages on the social network which are seen as justifying or encouraging criminal activity.

Facebook has been repeatedly criticised for removing photos uploaded by mothers breastfeeding their babies. The platform's policy states that it prohibits content that is “hateful, threatening, defamatory, or pornographic” or contains nudity.

Pro-anorexia groups have for years been a controversial fixture, with users sharing extreme diet tips and posting pictures of emaciated girls under headlines such as "thininspiration." The emergence of these groups on social network sites like Facebook and MySpace has led to campaigners asking for a clamp down on pro-anorexia sites.

Over the years Facebook has faced a number of outages and downtime causing media attention to these failures. These instances have highlighted the potential fragility of the platform. As Facebook continues growing and becomes more integrated in the lives of individuals, business and corporations, the security of the site is a public matter of great importance.