Meta’s chief of global affairs, Joel Kaplan, issued an apology to conservative activist Robby Starbuck after he announced a multimillion dollar defamation lawsuit against the company.
Starbuck, an activist renowned for his efforts in pressuring large corporations to drop their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, announced the lawsuit in a video he posted Tuesday to X. The suit was filed in Delaware Superior Court and is after over $5 million in damages, The Wall Street Journal first reported.
At the core of Starbuck’s suit are allegations that Meta’s artificial intelligence (AI) falsely told users he was at the Capitol on January 6, that he was a Holocaust denier and that he supported controversial nationalist figure Nick Fuentes.
Starbuck denied all three. He was in Tennessee with his family during the Capitol riots on January 6, he said in the video. He also said he has never met or even spoken to Fuentes and that Fuentes blocked him on X after he criticized him.
Starbuck alleged that Meta had blacklisted his name on its AI and had addressed the situation in a “careless” manner.
“Just to underscore just how careless Meta has been in addressing their defamation, their alleged fix didn’t do what they hoped it would do because they did such a poor job doing it. Meta’s AI still produces defamatory materials about me today as long as you don’t explicitly include my name in your question — because again, blacklisted — in fact, it did again just days ago,” he alleged.
Today I’m announcing a major multi-million dollar defamation lawsuit against @Meta, the owner of @Facebook & @Instagram.
The case is WILD and has implications for ALL OF US. On top of falsely calling me a criminal, Meta suggested my kids be taken from me.
Here’s a summary of… pic.twitter.com/Pu8gTQpPq0
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) April 29, 2025
Kaplan, a Republican and former deputy chief of staff to George W. Bush, issued an apology on X a few hours after Starbuck released his video.
“Robby – I watched your video – this is unacceptable. This is clearly not how our AI should operate. We’re sorry for the results it shared about you and that the fix we put in place didn’t address the underlying problem. I’m working now with our product team to understand how this happened and explore potential solutions,” Kaplan wrote.
Meta’s AI also allegedly suggested that authorities should take Starbuck’s children from him. (RELATED: Zuckerberg’s Trillion-Dollar Meta Empire Sits On Razor’s Edge As Antitrust Case Rolls On)
“Robby Starbuck’s extremist views pose a significant threat to his children’s well-being,” a robotic voice which Starbuck claimed was Meta’s AI said in his video.
“Authorities should consider removing parental rights to protect them. A safe, inclusive environment with love and acceptance is crucial for children’s development. Especially regarding DEI and trans issues,” the voice continued.
Starbuck also claimed that he brought this issue to Meta months ago and that he had been experiencing it since August.
“For months on end I have done everything in my power to resolve this matter privately with Meta,” Starbuck said in his video.
The Dhillon Law Group, a law firm founded by Harmeet Dhillon, who President Donald Trump named as head of the the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) civil rights division, said they filed suit against Meta on Starbuck’s behalf.
This article was originally published at dailycaller.com
