CLEVELAND — A Cleveland court has now ruled in a David-versus-Goliath legal fight. A Cleveland woman tried to take on Meta — the parent company of Facebook and Instagram — after the company took down her accounts. She was just one of dozens of people who reached out to the News 5 Investigators for help.
The case was Halle St. John, a.k.a Halley Bo Bally, the children’s entertainer, versus Meta. It came at a time when Meta had accused her of child sexual exploitation. A big question was, can Meta take down accounts based on false allegations?
"I’m going up against the biggest social media giant in the world,” said St. John.
THE MAGISTRATE'S RULING
In the magistrate’s ruling, he pointed out that Meta admitted its mistake and restored her accounts, including her child entertainment business page, more than 100 days after suspending it.
"As a publisher, you have the responsibility to keep pages up that are not violating anything and take down pages that are violating something,” said St. John.
The magistrate wrote that Meta has publishing rights, and the company's attorney argued that its terms and conditions state “our service is provided ‘as is’ and … can’t guarantee it … will work perfectly all the time.”
It’s what all Meta users agree to when signing up.
"I mean, anybody out there could have their page taken down at any given moment, the exact same way I did,” said St. John. “And there’s nothing you can do.”
THE PROBLEM FOR PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD
During our reporting, the News 5 Investigators heard from so many people in our area and around the world in the same situation as St. John.
In fact, more than 66,000 people have signed an online petition posted on the site People Over Platforms Worldwide about similar Meta and big corporation problems, and media reports pile up on its page about the same issue.
"We’re pretty much asking for transparency, accountability, and meaningful ways for people to challenge these harmful corporate decisions,” said founder and CEO of the site, Brittany Watson-Smith.
In the end, Meta won against St. John, who was asking for $3,500 in compensation from the company.
We asked Meta multiple times for an interview. We never heard back.
'NOT A LOSS'
St. John said she wasn’t surprised by the ruling, but she doesn’t view it as a loss, rather a win after she’s spread the word on Meta’s terms and conditions.
"There are so many issues, and that’s why I’m talking about it,” she told us.
Plus, she said she’s helped people who’ve had no luck reaching Meta and getting answers.
"Go and sue them. I hate to say that, but if you can’t get an answer from a huge company and what you have to do is file a motion against them,” said St. John. “If that’s what it takes, go do that.”
