MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th January, 2020) The United States District Court for the Northern District of California has dismissed the repeat lawsuit of the Russian Federal Agency of News (FAN) against Facebook over the latter's decision to shut down the agency's page and account, the verdict, obtained by Sputnik, read.
"On January 13, 2020, the Court granted Facebook's motion to dismiss with prejudice. ECF No. 44. Accordingly, the Clerk shall enter judgment in favor of Facebook. The Clerk shall close the file. IT IS SO ORDERED," the verdict, signed by judge Lucy H. Koh and dated January 13, said.
As with the first lawsuit, the judge found that FAN's evidence was not strong enough to prove violation of the First Amendment to the US constitution on the freedom of speech. Additionally, the judge saw repeated flaws in the way the plaintiff filed the suit to prohibit filing any new ones, which effectively ends the FAN v. Facebook process in the US.
Facebook removed FAN's page and account on April 4, 2018, accusing the news agency of having violated the terms of service. FAN and its Director General Evgeniy Zubarev insisted that Facebook must restore access to the agency's page and account as well as pay a fine.
In August, the court dismissed FAN's first lawsuit against Facebook but let the news agency file another one.
The United States has imposed sanctions on FAN, accusing it of alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. FAN has rejected the accusations.
