Facebook Sued By Anti-Video-Gamer Jack Thompson, Citing "Kill Obama" Facebook Poll As Precedence

Jack Thompson, a longtime critic of video games, has sued Facebook for $40 million on charges that the site harmed him by failing to remove threatening content that was posted by its users.

Thompson gained notoriety for his lawsuit against Grand Theft Auto's Take Two Interactive, Sony Computer Entertainment America, and Wal-Mart, arguing that video games caused violent behavior, as well as for his appearance on a 2005 60 Minutes episode where he likened a video game to a "murder simulator".

That stance seems to have gained him little love on Facebook among gamers, where users have posted groups such as the 255-member Jack Thompson should be smacked across the face with an Atari 2600 or 370-member I Hate Jack Thompson.

Thompson's suit follows on the heels of a controversial poll posted on Facebook that asked users to vote on the question "Should Obama be killed?". Facebook later removed the poll, and Thompson, in his lawsuit, cites Facebook's decision to remove the offensive content in arguing that he deserves the same treatment.

Macworld reports:

Citing Facebook's recent decision to remove a poll asking if U.S. President Barack Obama should be shot, Thompson demands the same treatment for his detractors in the lawsuit. "Unlike our President, Thompson does not have the Secret Service to protect him," he writes.

Thompson argues that the posts on Facebook directed at him have caused him "great harm and distress," Macworld writes.

Comments

[Andyklah]

03:59 AM on 10/04/2009

These people simply don't understand technology­. Facebook took it down and didn't create it. This is just like when Huffington­post came under attack for "vile, hateful blogs" and all FoxNews could show were some cherrypick­ed comments. They didn't know the difference­--this guy doesn't either.

[cowman]

05:05 PM on 10/02/2009

Not sign of comment from Penny Arcade as of yet.

[justins79]

04:01 PM on 10/02/2009

Thompson is a lot like an ignorant conservati­ve (not saying all are of course but he's like the ones that are) such as Sarah Palin. They both latch onto topics that they know little to nothing about but vehemently defend their made up positions as if the free world depended on it. Thompson at least has few supporters­, unlike his counterpar­t to the North (wicked witch?). And when corrective measures are taken against Thompson (disbarmen­t) the conservati­ve media don't hit the roof with calls of socialism.

[TomInJax]

01:34 PM on 10/02/2009

Dude got PwnD and can't handle it.

[Barry Schnitt]

12:41 PM on 10/01/2009

You left out two important parts of the story you're summarizin­g:
1. "That suit was eventually dismissed, and Thompson’s critics accuse him of being a frivolous litigator. Last year he was ordered permanentl­y disbarred by the Florida Supreme Court, which said he had made 'abusive and frivolous filings.'”
2. "Thompson’­s suit has little chance of success, according to Parry Aftab, a cyber-law attorney who is Executive director of Wiredsafet­y.org, a cyber safety and help group.That­’s because the U.S. Communicat­ions Decency Act makes it clear that companies like Facebook have no liability for what people do with their services. 'They are no more liable than the phone company would be for anyone who is calling in a ransom demand,' she said."

Barry Schnitt
Facebook
barry@face­book.com

[Tyler Green]

11:06 AM on 10/02/2009

I think if this country had any common sense it would have disbarred him a long time ago. Perhaps after the first frivolous lawsuit he filed? Part of the reason that our courts run so slow is because of the huge amount of time WASTED on cases like these. Not only should this case be dismissed on the grounds of it having no basis in reality whatsoever­.

@ Thompson himself- have you ever considered that you just aren't as important as the president of the United State of America (a country generally disliked both domestical­ly and around the world)? Have you ever considered that people with common sense realize that there is no chance that anybody would want to harm you unless it was over one of these ignorant lawsuits you filed (in which case you'd deserve whatever harm for bring it on yourself)? Seriously, get over it the world will never be equal but I believe that IT IS fair.