Kings Casino Wins First Round Against Facebook
Kings Casino is not a popular brand in the America or Asian market but it is certainly very popular in Europe. Kings Casino is owned by Leon Tsoukernik and is situated in Rozvadov, Czech Republic. The casino resort has the biggest poker room in Europe and is known for hosting some of the biggest poker tournaments in Europe including the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE).
Kings Casino Takes Facebook To Court
Kings Casino took Facebook to court earlier this year for permitting false advertising on its site. Kings Casino claimed that Facebook allowed a fake operator posing as Kings Casino to run Facebook ads on its site even after the real Kings Casino contacted the social media operator and made it aware that someone was posing as Kings Casino and running ads illegally.
The fake operator was using real images of Kings Casino and misleading Facebook users to another site that claimed to be Kings Casino. Despite contacting customer support on multiple occasions and asking them to take the fake ads down, there was no response from Facebook.
Leon Tsoukernik said that he had no option left but to take legal action against Facebook as the fake operator was causing a lot of damage to the real Kings Casino through fraudulent advertising. Tsoukernik said that Facebook failed in its ad vetting process as it should have been more thorough and its customer support should have been more helpful.
Tsoukernik is suing Facebook for a total of $23.3 million on the basis of reputation damage and lost revenue as the fake site profited by misleading players away from his casino.
Tsoukernik also pointed out that as per Czech law it was mandatory for any online gambling ad to have a responsible gambling message attached to it. The fake operator did not have any responsible gambling message on their Facebook ad which was more than enough to file a lawsuit against the social media giant.
Case Will Be Heard In Czech Republic
Facebook has its European head office in Dublin, Ireland and in the past most of its EU lawsuits have been processed by the Irish legal system. Tsoukernik fought to have his lawsuit heard in the Czech Republic and not Ireland as his casino was wronged in the Czech Republic and not Ireland.
Kings Resort has won the first round after his lawyers managed to stop the case going through the Irish legal system. The case will now be heard in the Czech Republic although no official date has been given as of now.