Jack Thompson, a longtime critic of video games, has sued Facebook for $40 million on charges that the site harmed him by failing to remove threatening content that was posted by its users.
Thompson gained notoriety for his lawsuit against Grand Theft Auto's Take Two Interactive, Sony Computer Entertainment America, and Wal-Mart, arguing that video games caused violent behavior, as well as for his appearance on a 2005 60 Minutes episode where he likened a video game to a "murder simulator".
That stance seems to have gained him little love on Facebook among gamers, where users have posted groups such as the 255-member Jack Thompson should be smacked across the face with an Atari 2600 or 370-member I Hate Jack Thompson.
Thompson's suit follows on the heels of a controversial poll posted on Facebook that asked users to vote on the question "Should Obama be killed?". Facebook later removed the poll, and Thompson, in his lawsuit, cites Facebook's decision to remove the offensive content in arguing that he deserves the same treatment.
Macworld reports:
Citing Facebook's recent decision to remove a poll asking if U.S. President Barack Obama should be shot, Thompson demands the same treatment for his detractors in the lawsuit. "Unlike our President, Thompson does not have the Secret Service to protect him," he writes.
Thompson argues that the posts on Facebook directed at him have caused him "great harm and distress," Macworld writes.