A Georgia man successfully sued Facebook after his account was permanently banned for allegedly violating the social media network’s child exploitation rules.

“I woke up one Sunday morning, I tapped on my Facebook icon, and I was locked out," Jason Crawford told WAGA this week.

Crawford said the only explanation for his Facebook account being terminated was a quick pop-up message that said he had violated the platform's child exploitation standards.

"It just gave me the briefest snapshot of saying that I had violated their standards on child sexual exploitation," he said. "And then it went away."

Crawford admitted that his account had been suspended in the past over posts about politics. However, he said that he had not done anything that would violate the child exploitation rules.

"I had, I don’t even know how you quantify it, pictures, videos, posts that, you know, come up as memories that I like to look at from time to time. You know, all that kind of stuff that I wasn’t willing to let a bunch of bullies take away from me for no reason," he explained.

Crawford wanted to clear his name and get his Facebook page back. He attempted to contact Facebook, but found it impossible.

He said, "It was as if I didn’t exist and Facebook was operated by a bunch of ghosts or something."

"What I learned is the way you submit your appeal, or whatever, is through your own profile, your own account," he told the Atlanta station. "If you don't have an account, you have no way of submitting it, so it’s like a dog chasing its tail."

Crawford, who is a lawyer, launched a lawsuit against Facebook's parent company Meta Platforms in August 2022. In the complaint, Crawford accused the tech giant of being "negligent" for banning him from the social media platform "based on a violation that did not occur."

Crawford said he was also banned from Instagram and WhatsApp – which are both owned by Meta Platforms.

Meta Platforms allegedly did not respond to the lawsuit, and the judge ruled in favor of Crawford.

"Defendant was properly served with process in this action in according with Georgia law. … Defendant has failed to respond thereto as required by law; this action has automatically become in default; Defendant has failed to open the default as a matter of right within 15 days of the day of each Defendant’s default; and default judgment is demanded against Defendant," the ruling reads, according to BizPac Review.

“Plaintiff’s injuries and damages, as hereinabove described, were directly and proximately caused by the negligence of Defendant. The Court concludes that Plaintiff has endured great mental pain since Facebook unjustifiably and unreasonably shut down his account and that his pain and suffering will likely continue. The Court further concludes that Plaintiff is entitled to just and adequate compensation for his injuries and for his past and future damages," the ruling states.

The judge ordered Meta Platforms to pay $50,000 to Crawford.

Crawford said that Facebook finally restored his account. "I felt a little bit vindicated, and they activated my account again," he said.

A Facebook attorney allegedly told Crawford that his account had been hacked.

However, Crawford said that Meta Platforms has not paid him a dime yet. "Every step of the way, Facebook is choosing not to do the right thing," Crawford declared.

"It feels like a poke in the eye, and it feels like they're continuing to poke in the eye," he said. "Poke the local court system in the eye. Poke me in the eye. Poke other users in the eye, and it’s time that they at least respect our legal system."

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox 5 Atlanta.

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