"Facebook rules do not prohibit people from having the last name Khokhlov"
Former footballer of the Russian national team, and at the moment the head coach of the Volgograd "Rotor" Dmitry Khokhlov faced an unexpected problem.
It turned out that followers of social networks Facebook and Instagram are massively blocked for mentioning his last name.
The specialist himself told the journalists about this.
“Neither I, nor my friends and acquaintances can use Facebook and Instagram normally.
Many people called me and said that any mention of the surname is blocked, and they get banned for a week.
We first noticed this at the end of spring, "- quotes the coach Octagon.
The reason for the punishment is that on social networks, the name of Khokhlov is mistaken for the dismissive nickname of Ukrainians "Ukrainians" and sees this as an insult on the basis of ethnicity.
Tired of the corresponding complaints from fans, the ex-athlete decided to sue Facebook to resolve the situation.
He himself spoke about this only on Wednesday, but the statement was registered by the Solntsevsky District Court of Moscow on July 1.
"The proceedings ... received a statement of claim by Dmitry Valerievich Khokhlov to Facebook about the defendant's obligation to unblock all mentions of the plaintiff's name in posts and comments in the defendant's social network," TASS quotes a spokesman for the court's press service.
At the same time, the Moscow Courts of General Jurisdiction Telegram channel reported that the specialist intends to collect 150 million rubles from the management of the social network as compensation for moral damage.
A meeting is scheduled for October 5, which will begin at 12:00 (Moscow time).
Even the State Duma of Russia reacted to the incident.
Deputy Vitaly Milonov saw a "violation of human rights" in the incident and did not rule out the possible blocking of the social network in the country.
“This is a limitless situation.
Facebook's rules for users do not exactly prohibit people from having the last name Khokhlov.
I think they should correct the technical error and make an exception for the Rotor mentor.
They do not know the Russian language, therefore, with a high degree of probability, the company will correct the content tracking algorithm, and the problem will be solved, "Sport-Express quotes Milonov.
"The administration of the social network imposes sanctions for the root" crest "
In order to understand why the decision was made to file a lawsuit against the American company, RT contacted Khokhlov himself, but he declined to comment. But the representative of the former football player Anna Varganova spoke about the actions of her client. She confirmed that users were punished for allegedly inciting ethnic hatred.
“For example, a person publishes a photo of Khokhlov and signs it accordingly -“ Khokhlov ”, and he is immediately blocked for this.
Someone for three days, and someone - for a month, depending on the "degree of guilt."
Moreover, Dmitry Valerievich himself has no accounts either on Facebook or on Instagram.
We are not talking about the fact that subscribers were punished for likes.
Roughly speaking, the administration of the social network imposes sanctions for the root "crest".
The coach, one might say, decided to compete for his name, because the fans are now simply afraid to use it.
This is not entirely correct, "the lawyer said in an interview with RT.
According to her, the victims tried to contact Facebook technical support and explain that there was no talk of any insult to Ukrainians, but this had no effect.
Moreover, social networks continue to ban people to this day.
“Apparently, they want Khokhlov to change his surname.
It's hard for me to understand the logic of the American side, ”the coach's representative complained.
At the same time, she called the chances of winning in this case very high, but stressed that first it is necessary to correctly notify Facebook about the meeting.
“Now we need to observe all the rights of the American company so that the decision of the Solntsevsky District Court will be valid in the United States.
In fact, on October 5, he will only make a decision on how to notify them correctly.
According to the convention, each state that has ratified it must create a central authority that will deal with this if a claim is received against a foreign legal entity.
In Russia, the Ministry of Justice gave this right to outsource a law firm.
Actually, the court will make a determination that she is obliged to notify Facebook.
And if the correct notification does not appear, the decisions of the Russian courts will never be adopted on the territory of the United States, ”added Varganova.
If all the formalities are met, in the United States of America they are obliged to obey the decision of the domestic court.
“There are already such precedents.
So, in Canada, a citizen of the country filed a lawsuit against a large American company and won the case.
And most importantly, the US court then recognized that this verdict was valid in the United States, ”the lawyer explained.
At the same time, she urged not to wait for the resolution of the situation even before the end of the year, since it will take a significant amount of time only to notify the opposite side.
“Nothing can be guaranteed.
We hope that the social network by this time will already be aware of our claims.
Anything can happen next.
Facebook representatives have the right to state a whole bunch of objections, ”Varganova suggested.
The representative of Khokhlova confirmed that her client really intends to receive 150 million rubles for the moral damage suffered, although she called the chances of this low.
“Firstly, Dmitry Valerievich demands that the management of the social network stop blocking users for mentioning him.
As for the damage of 150 million rubles, they really declared exactly this amount, proceeding from the fact that Dmitry Valerievich is a famous person.
Although the Russian courts, as a rule, do not award such money, we will try to get it, ”Varganova promised.