CorpComms Magazine

A Republican candidate for the American Congress has launched legal action against Facebook claiming the social networking site is responsible for his loss in a primary election last year.

Majed Moughni was standing as US Representative for Michigan's 15th congressional district but came fourth in the polls, gaining just four per cent of the votes.

He lost to Democrat John Dingell, who is also the current longest serving member of Congress - and the third longest serving ever.

The suit claims that the Facebook page for Majed Moughni was 'yanked' last year when he used the site to criticise Dingell for 'questioning a blown call that cost Detroit Tiger Armando Galarraga a perfect game, rather than focusing on important issues.'

Moughni added: 'I had no chance without Facebook. They disorganised us in the middle of our campaign and we lost. Facebook took us off the market. They took us off the face of the earth.'

When Facebook closed Moughni's Facebook page in June, the candidate had about 1,600 friends. The lawsuit claims 'sweeping rights violations' by Facebook and founder Mark Zuckerberg, adding the networking site 'engaged in conduct which is extreme, outrageous and beyond the bounds of decency in a civilised society.

'We don't want a penny from Facebook. We just want Facebook to bring back our ability to communicate.' Andrew Noyes, spokesman for Facebook, told the House Race Hotline that Moughni's site was disabled by a system that 'flags suspicious or anomalous behaviour'.

Moughni has since established a new Facebook page.

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