This week, Meta asked a US district court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Professor Ethan Zuckerman, who has concerns that Meta may sue him if he releases an automated tool enabling Facebook users to remove all feed content. The tool, Unfollow Everything 2.0, aims to allow users to easily unfollow all friends, groups, and pages on Facebook.
Zuckerman’s legal action stems from a cease-and-desist letter sent previously to the creator of the original Unfollow Everything tool, heightening his fears of potential litigation. He hopes the court will rule that either his tool does not breach Facebook’s terms of use or that such terms conflict with laws including the First Amendment and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Meta’s motion to dismiss argues that Zuckerman’s tool is currently non-existent and thus too premature for the court to evaluate. Meta states there are no concrete facts that would enable adjudication of potential legal claims and highlights concerns about unnecessary rulings on hypothetical applications of law.
The tech giant also argues that even if the tool were built, Facebook’s constantly evolving interface might render the tool ineffective or different than described in Zuckerman’s suit. Meta emphasizes that without a completed tool, it cannot assess potential damages or decide on a legal response, including assessing breach of contract or other claims.
Further complicating the case, Meta notes that the original Unfollow Everything tool functioned differently by logging in on behalf of users, whereas the proposed new tool would perform operations after users log in themselves. However, Ramya Krishnan from the Knight Institute argues the tools operate nearly identically.
Ultimately, Meta contends it remains to be seen whether legal action would be necessary, suggesting that only once the tool is operational could potential impacts or issues be properly assessed.
For more details, visit the original article on Ars Technica.