A Chicago man is suing 27 women, one man, and multiple social media platforms over negative posts about dating him on an “Are We Dating the Same Guy” Facebook group.
In a complaint filed Monday in the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, USA, Nikko D’Ambrosio claimed that he had been the subject of defamation, doxxing, and privacy invasion, among other allegations.
404 Media was the first to report on the lawsuit.
D’Ambrosio is seeking damages exceeding $75,000 and injunctive relief to prevent the defendants from continuing to publish statements about him on the Chicago subgroup of the “Are We Dating the Same Guy?’ Facebook page.
The Facebook group in question is part of a network of “Are We Dating the Same” groups that allow users to discuss negative dating encounters with men in their local communities.
Subgroups exist for many major metropolitan areas across the US and Canada.
According to the complaint, “Are We Dating the Same” once self-described itself as a “Red Flag Awareness group” aimed at safeguarding women from “toxic men.”
The Chicago sub-group, which has more than 80,000 members, now describes itself as protecting women, “not judging men.”
D’Ambrosio’s complaint alleges that thousands of men have been “potentially defamed,” some without even knowing they’re the subject of disparaging posts, while adding that there is no fact-checking of statements put out by users.
In D’Ambrosio’s case, he says in the complaint that a woman he had consensual sex with posted a photograph of him on the group.
In response to the post, comments from several women labeled him a “psycho,” and “very clingy,” with one accusing him of ghosting her after they slept together.
Demanding a trial by jury, D’Ambrosio alleged in the complaint that the post and subsequent comments caused him humiliation, emotional distress, and reputational damage, and resulted in unspecified lost earnings.
The lawsuit also names several divisions of the Meta corporation as defendants, accusing the company of profiting from advertising on pages displaying defamatory and invasive content.
Other defendants include Patreon, the arewedatingthesame.com website, and GoFundMe.
The group’s founder, Paola Sanchez, also named as a defendant, launched a GoFundMe last year to create an app.
Sanchez, GoFundMe, Meta, and Patreon did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s requests for comments, which were sent outside of operating hours.
Trent Law Firm, representing D’Ambrosio, also did not immediately respond to BI.
Vice reported last year on the challenges of the ‘Are We Dating the Same Guy’ groups, noting that while they wanted to crowdsource women’s safety, people are often unable to defend themselves and women don’t always corroborate their stories. – Business Insider
