ARCON granted leave to serve writ of summons on Meta Platform by Federal High Court in Abuja
Abuja, Nigeria – In a pending N30 billion lawsuit against Meta Platform, the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) has been granted leave by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to serve a writ of summons on the social media giant and owner of Facebook.
The court gave its approval after an application by ARCON, seeking redress for Meta’s violation of the extant advertising laws of Nigeria.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the writ is to be served at Meta’s United States corporate headquarters, which also owns other popular social media platforms such as Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp.
Meta and AT3 Resources Limited are the first and second defendants in the lawsuit respectively.
ARCON is seeking a declaration that the publication of various advertisements and marketing communications materials targeted at Nigeria through Meta’s platforms without prior vetting and approval by the Advertising Standards Panel is illegal.
In addition, ARCON claims that the act disregards Nigerian culture, constitutional tenets, moral values, and religious sensitivity of citizens.
Consequently, ARCON is seeking an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, their privies, agents, servants, and associates from publishing any advertising or marketing communications materials without recourse to ARCON in line with the country’s advertising law.
ARCON is also demanding N30 billion in fines and sanctions for the continued violations and infractions of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria Act No. 23 of 2022.
