For Indianapolis bankruptcy attorney Mark Steven Zuckerberg, sharing a name with the billionaire founder of Facebook has been anything but amusing. Instead of a quirky coincidence, it has turned into a years-long digital nightmare.
Zuckerberg, who has practiced law in Indiana for years, is now suing Meta, Facebook’s parent company, alleging negligence and breach of contract. His complaint stems from repeated account suspensions tied to his name a problem that has disrupted both his personal and professional presence online.
“I’m Not That Mark Zuckerberg”
The attorney stresses he is not Facebook’s founder, Mark Elliot Zuckerberg. But that hasn’t stopped the social media giant from flagging his accounts as fake or accusing him of impersonating a celebrity.
“It’s not funny. Not when they take my money,” he told 13News. “This really pissed me off.”
Zuckerberg says his business page has been shut down five times in the last eight years, while his personal account has been suspended four times. The latest suspension lasted four months despite multiple appeals. In his lawsuit, Zuckerberg compares Meta’s actions to “buying a billboard on the side of the highway, paying for it, and then having someone cover it with a blanket.” He argues that Facebook not only restricted his business visibility but also cost him money in ads and lost client engagement. The lawsuit seeks restoration of his accounts, assurance against future suspensions, and compensation for attorney fees and lost revenue.
Emails reviewed by 13News show that Meta has, in the past, acknowledged errors and apologized. Yet, Zuckerberg says the cycle continues accounts restored after months of downtime, only to be suspended again.
“For somebody who purports to be one of the leading tech companies in the world, and they can’t stop doing this? And they can’t seem to get their appeal process to work? I think they have a problem,” he said.
A Meta spokesperson confirmed to 13News that Zuckerberg’s account has been reinstated, admitting the suspension was a mistake. “We have reinstated Mark Zuckerberg’s account, after finding it had been disabled in error. We appreciate Mr. Zuckerberg’s continued patience on this issue and are working to try and prevent this from happening in the future,” the company said in a statement.
Despite the reinstatement, Zuckerberg says he moved forward with the lawsuit because of the recurring nature of the suspensions and the impact on his practice.“I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t think I could win,” he said, confident in his case.And as for the more famous Mark Zuckerberg? The Indianapolis attorney joked: “If he wants to fly here personally and say ‘I’m sorry,’ or maybe let me spend a week on his boat, I’d probably take him up on that.
