A case has been filed against a company based in Upper Hutt and three individuals based in NewZealand by Facebook and Instagram in a United States court alleging that the accused helped others in the creation of Instagram followers that were fake.

The company called Social Media Series Limited has a registered address on McCarthy Grove in Upper Hutt is the main litigant in the case filed by Facebook, said the company spokesman Ben McConaghy.

The identified company and the individuals named in the lawsuit “operated a service that provided fake likes, views and followers to Instagram users”, alleged the company through a statement that was issued by Facebook’s US-based litigation director Jessica Romero.

“The complaint alleges the company and individuals used different companies and websites to sell fake engagement services to Instagram users,” Romero said.

According to information available from the Companies Office lists the three directors of Social Media Series as Leon Francis Hedges and Arend Alexander Hubert Nollen, both of Upper Hutt, and David James Pekka Pasanen of Lower Hutt.

Accounts related to the defendants had been suspended earlier by Facebook and had “formally warned them in writing that they were in violation of our terms of use, however their activity persisted”, said Romero.

“By filing the lawsuit, we are sending a message that this kind of fraudulent activity is not tolerated on our services, and we will act to protect the integrity of our platform,” she said.

People can generate revenues from social media if they are able to possess or show that they have a large number of followers. For example, they can pit themselves as influencers on social media and generate money from consumer brands.

The case has been filed in the US because that is the headquarters of Facebook, McConaghy said. The company believes that since the illegal activity was taking place on its platform and because it is based in the US, therefore, a court in the US would have jurisdiction.

According to the lawsuit, Facebook is seeking court action to stop the accused company and the individuals from engaging and profiting through sale of fake “likes, views and followers” on Instagram. These activities are against the terms of use and community guidelines, Facebook said and added that it is in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and other Californian laws meant to prevent the distribution of fake likes on Instagram.

The company said it devoted “significant resources to detecting and stopping this behaviour”. One of the ways of achieving this, for example, is by preventing the creation and use of fake accounts. The company has also been making use of machine-learning technology to identify and remove any form of unauthentic activity from Instagram.

McConaghy said that the terrorist attacks in Christchurch have nothing to do with the case.

(Adapted from Stuff.co.nz)