Facebook got all high and mighty and banned crypto currency advertisments to look after their users, who obviously could not possibly think for themselves.
Facebook has said it will block any advertising promoting crypto-currency products and services.
The company said it was open to emerging technologies but many companies were not acting in “good faith” when extolling the virtues buying into virtual currencies.
Recently, a wave of new currencies have emerged, seeking to piggyback Bitcoin’s huge increase in value.
Facebook urged users to report any ads the company’s security measures missed.
It admitted it would not always catch every ad for a crypto-currency.
“We want people to continue to discover and learn about new products and services through Facebook ads without fear of scams or deception,” wrote Rob Leathern, product management director for Facebook Business.
BBC
You see, there might be a dodgy operator out there so we will ban them all. Sounds reasonable.
The other “defenders of free speech” (NOT), Google and Twitter, soon followed suit:
On 30 January, 14 March and 25 March 2018, Facebook, Google and Twitter announced their respective Ad Bans. With each announcement, the cryptocurrency markets plunged: 53% for Facebook, 30% for Google and 23% for Twitter. The Crypto Winter had arrived, courtesy of a Big Tech cartel.
But then, as everyone following the crypto space suspected, Facebook launched its very own cryptocurrency and so the rules disappeared.
Now someone is taking them to court. Three cheers!
This Ad Ban was a blatantly anti-competitive attack by virtual monopolists on their nascent competitors in the blockchain space. It did immense harm to cryptocurrency investors and the huge number of legitimate projects trying to create a better, decentralised, internet. Banning an entire industry from its main modes of advertising dramatically cut demand, strangling investment and adoption – the markets reacted accordingly.
Was it an anti-competitive tactic deliberately designed to slow down these competitors while Facebook developed Project Libra? JPB Liberty thinks so.
JPB Liberty is an Australian litigation funding company set up by Israelis which has prepared a global class action lawsuit by members of the cryptocurrency industry and holders of cryptocurrency against Facebook, Google & Twitter for breach of the anti-cartel provisions of Australia’s Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (“Act”).
We’ve formed an Australian company from our home in High Tec Israel because Australian laws are more suited to prosecuting this kind of anti-competitive cartel, where huge monopoly companies get together and act to squash and destroy the little guy “, a spokesman for JPB Liberty told TR.NEWS.
Facebook, Google & Twitter have been sent legal letters putting them on notice about this claim for damages exceeding $500 billion, comprising over $350 billion in investor losses from market drops, over $150 billion in cryptocurrency exchange revenue losses and untold billions of cryptocurrency project losses.
The claim is global because it is against both their Australian subsidiaries and parent companies who are doing business in Australia. Anyone worldwide who have suffered loss from the Ad Ban can claim damages.
An Originating Application has been prepared under section 33C of Part IVA (Representative Proceedings) of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 seeking damages under section 82 of the Act.
All persons who held cryptocurrency during 2018 and all cryptocurrency/blockchain projects affected by the Ad Ban can join the Class Action on a no-win no-fee basis at www.jpbliberty.com.
TRNews