Facebook parent Meta sues a China-linked firm for allegedly scraping data from its social media platforms like Instagram.

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NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 25: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks about the new Facebook News feature at the Paley Center For Media on October 25, 2019 in New York City.

On top of that, the Facebook parent filed a lawsuit against an individual over data scraping, as well.

Meta Sues China-Linked Firm Over Facebook, Instagram Data Scraping

A news story by Engadget reports that Meta brings a California-based firm that goes by the name Octopus Data to court over its web-scraping service, known as Octoparse.

The Mark Zuckerberg-owned tech giant says that Octopus Data is a subsidiary of a China-based tech firm, which offers data scraping-for-hire services in various parts of the world.

The parent firm of social media giants Facebook and Instagram also filed a lawsuit against an individual named Ekrem Ates.

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This photograph taken on October 28, 2021 shows the META logo on a laptop screen in Moscow as Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg announced the parent company's name is being changed to "Meta" to represent a future beyond just its troubled social network.

According to a recent report by PC Mag Australia, the Facebook parent filed the suit in a United States district court, which seeks to stop them from scraping its users' data.

Meta notes that Octopus scrapes various data from Facebook and Instagram users, including their email addresses, contact numbers, and birth dates.

It also showcases who their followers on Instagram are, as well as their recent activities on the social media platform, such as their comments and likes, the Facebook parent disclosed.

Facebook Parent vs. Ekrem Ates

On the other hand, Meta says in its lawsuit that the individual it sued, known as Ekrem Ates, has automated multiple Instagram accounts.

And the Zuckerberg-owned tech giant alleges that it enabled Ates to harvest information from over 350,000 users of Instagram.

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A photo taken on March 14, 2022, shows the US social network Instagram logo on a smartphone screen in Moscow.

Meta further claims that the Ates went on to share these Instagram data to clone sites, wherein anyone could view the information of its users without their consent.

The tech giant behind Instagram says it has previously filed a bunch of enforcement actions against the said individual.

At some point, Meta reportedly even sent Ates a to cease and desist letter, which prevents him from using its services, including Facebook and Instagram.

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Meta Wants Facebook, Instagram Scraping to Stop

Meta says that "companies like Octopus are part of an emerging scraping industry that provides automation services to any customer."

In turn, the Facebook parent claims that services such as this make data scraping accessible to various individuals and groups. But without this whole industry, doing so would have been impossible for them, Meta adds in its statement.

And as such, Meta is now asking help from the US court to stop these web scraping services, as it violates the terms of service of its platforms, namely Facebook and Instagram.

Related Article: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg Has a Harsh Message to Employees: Step Up or Leave

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Written by Teejay Boris