Man Sues Facebook for $500,000 for Disabling his Account

A Staten Island man is poking Facebook with a $500,000 lawsuit for disabling his account, the New York Post reported Wednesday.

Mustafa Fteja said his account was disabled without explanation in September, cutting off his access to friends and family around the world, as well as to personal memories and photos.

"That was how I stayed in touch with people," said Fteja, who estimated he had about 340 friends when he was inexplicably cut off.

Fteja, 39, said he has pressed the company for months to find out what happened, but to no avail.

His suit notes that Fteja is Muslim, and charges Facebook with religious discrimination.

"You call, they don't answer the phone. You write, they don't reply," he said, adding he had no choice but to go to court to get what he considers his property back.

"I lived in a communist country where people had no rights. This looks the same to me," the Montenegro native said.

"I'm not doing this for money. I'm doing this for justice. I believe there should be some, somewhere."

Fteja said he had been using Facebook for about three years, mainly to keep in touch with family and friends in Montenegro, Albania, Germany and Austria.

He found out he had been cut off from his outside world on Sept. 24, when he tried to sign on to his account, but couldn't. After a few more attempts, the site told him his account had been "disabled."

He tried to find out why, but only got a form email back two weeks later telling him he had violated the terms of the Facebook agreement. The social network typically cuts off users if they have posted objectionable content, or are suspected of spamming. Fteja said he didn't post anything objectionable, and he's no spammer.

"I know one thing -- I didn't do anything. I didn't violate anything," he said, adding he would not be suing if he had.

Facebook did not respond to emails for comment.