MoneySavingExpert’s Martin Lewis has revealed the “anxiety” he felt over his legal action against Facebook left him “shaking.”

In a blog post, for MoneySavingExpert, he revealed the pressure of the media frenzy following the launch of his recent court action against the social media giant over scam adverts featuring his face.

He wrote: “I was shaking when I arrived home.

“That morning, in a personal capacity, I’d issued High Court proceedings for a campaigning defamation lawsuit against Facebook – my aim to stop it publishing scam ads for get-rich-quick schemes, such as those that include my face, which target vulnerable people. 

“Coverage of the lawsuit led every news bulletin that morning, was on the front of The Times and Metro, and loud and large in every paper. “I did interviews on every major UK channel, and many abroad.

“The story had exploded and left me nervous.”


He said the key to winning his case was in proving that Facebook was a publisher, a standpoint he said had gained interest in comment pieces in the USA and was seen as “the sharpest knife to cut the firm down to size.”

But he added: “Except, my aim isn’t to go to court. It’s to stop Facebook publishing scam ads, and if it comes up with a system that will do that – I’d hope we could settle.

“These comment pieces have upped the ante though, so I now feel that, even if I do get the anti-scam victory I set out to, many will be annoyed I didn’t go the whole hog to prove it’s a publisher.” 

He also commented on the logistics of the court action itself saying the proceedings “are technically against Facebook Ireland (due to its complex structure)” and it has three and a half weeks to make its initial response to his summons.

He said: “After that this could be a long process, depending on the nature of the response.

“So don’t hold your breath.”

He said it was revealed Facebook had removed thousands of fake adverts featuring Mr Lewis, which gave him “the creeps.”

He also said he had received words of support from Dragon’s Den star Duncan Bannatyne and he said he “would be delighted for others who have similar issues (and there are many) to follow on and take up the cudgels.”

A Facebook spokesman said: “We do not allow adverts which are misleading or false on Facebook and have explained to Martin Lewis that he should report any adverts that infringe his rights and they will be removed.”