Seven Oklahoma medical marijuana dispensaries have sued Facebook, claiming the social media giant placed them in “Facebook Jail” for posting about their operations.
The lawsuit by the Oklahoma dispensaries is the latest of a flurry of complaints by cannabis companies against Facebook and other social media sites, such as Instagram.
In Oklahoma, Ye Olde Apothecary Shoppe and its owner, Danna Malone, initially sued Facebook, CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and executive team member Peter Thiel, the Tulsa World reported.
Six other dispensary owners have since joined the lawsuit as plaintiffs, according to the newspaper.
They are seeking a court order preventing Facebook from censoring their business pages, the Tulsa World reported, and also are asking for more than $75,000 in damages for “economic harm.”
The petition charges “a pattern of targeting the Oklahoma medical marijuana industry.”
Facebook did not immediately respond to a Tulsa World email seeking comment on Tuesday.
In October, MarketWatch reported that Facebook would stop blocking marijuana-related searches for legitimate businesses with the word “cannabis” or “marijuana” in the name.
For more on the Oklahoma situation, click here.
