Facebook's parent company Meta will fight criminal charges filed by philanthropist billionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest over an alleged clickbait ad scam.
Lawyers for the tech giant formally pleaded not guilty at the Armadale Magistrates Court on Wednesday to three charges of recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime worth $1,000 or more.
The case was transferred to the West Australian District Court, where the Commonwealth is expected to take over the prosecution because a private citizen cannot prosecute the charges.
The mining magnate has accused Meta of being criminally reckless by allowing false advertisements for a cryptocurrency investment scheme featuring his image to appear on his site.
When Dr. Forrest launched the case last year, it was the first time Meta faced criminal charges related to the running of her social media platform.
Mining magnate Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest (pictured) has accused Facebook's parent company Meta of being criminally reckless by allowing false advertisements for a cryptocurrency investment scheme featuring his image to appear on his site.
It is alleged that the company did not take sufficient steps to correct the scam advertisements, which featured Dr. To prevent Forrest and other prominent Australians from being removed.
Dr. Forrest was also ordered to hand over hundreds of sensitive documents that he desperately wanted to keep private.
Meta previously issued a subpoena for 20 categories of documents after accusing the mining magnate's lawyers of failing to hand over papers relevant to the legal battle.
These include personal emails and communications regarding foreign lawsuit funding for the case he filed against the platform in the United States.
Meta also demanded a copy of a privileged draft letter sent by Dr Forrest's lawyers to the Commonwealth's Attorney-General after he accused them of failing to hand over papers relevant to the legal battle.
The documents sought also included several emails, including communications between Dr. Forrest, emails to expert witnesses and reports on the use of third-party advertisements featuring his name.
Lawyers for the tech giant formally pleaded not guilty to three charges of reckless handling of the proceeds of crime
Magistrate Melita Medcalf's ruling puts an end to eighteen months of bickering between the parties over the documents.
Meta didn't have it all his way, however, as Mrs. Medcalf denied the company access to certain privileged documents it had requested.
She also refused an application to use the documents in other similar cases, including the fight against the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Dr. Forrest has previously said he has repeatedly asked Facebook to remove the ads he says appeared in 2019.
He also initiated a civil suit against Facebook in California in September 2021.
The WA case will return to court on February 9.