LOS ANGELES—Dr. Susan Block has challenged Mark Zuckerberg and Meta Platforms Inc. in arbitration.
Meta is the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. Block alleges that Meta engaged in "wrongful business practices," including a lack of accountability, algorithmic discrimination and deactivation of her accounts on Meta-owned social networks.
Block is a world-renowned sexologist and maintains that she did nothing to see her accounts disabled.
The case is Dr. Susan Block v. Instagram/Meta Platforms, Inc., and it reportedly "exposes Mark Zuckerberg's ballooning exploitation of Meta's users." She is represented by counsel from G&B Law LLP., based in Encino, Calif., and Meta is reportedly represented by counsel for Mayer-Brown LLP., a white-shoe "big" law firm.
“Meta’s wanton, algorithmic, and unwarranted deactivation of my accounts has destroyed 15 years of hard labor in its social media mines, cut me off from essential communication channels, damaged my reputation, and infringed upon my freedom of speech as well as the freedom of my friends, family, and colleagues to hear me speak on their Meta feeds and in messenger,” Block asserts. “This AI-controlled deactivation represents the normalization of dehumanization.
"AI of this kind is artificial ignorance. It’s killing our humanity first, on its way to killing all the humans," she adds.
Block’s legal action against Meta highlights the growing concerns surrounding the influence and accountability of social media giants in moderating everyday online discourse—mostly with artificial intelligence—and the need for greater transparency, fairness, accountability and humanity in their practices, as well as more equitable conflict resolution in social media and other common digital spaces.
