Graham Norton wins court order over Facebook deepfakes in US

Graham Norton has won a US court order forcing Meta to reveal the source of AI-generated deepfake Facebook posts that falsely reported his mother's death and his own ill health. The Irish presenter filed the case in California after the anonymous account The Westminster Wire published fabricated stories and images, causing him significant distress. Norton plans to pursue legal action in the UK once the account operators are identified.

Graham Norton wins court order over Facebook deepfakes in US - Bookmark Graham Norton /topic/graham-norton has been granted a US court order that will force Meta to reveal the source behind a series of AI-generated and factually inaccurate Facebook posts about the presenter, which caused him “significant alarm, distress and anxiety”. The Irish comedian and chat-show host took Mark Zuckerberg /topic/mark-zuckerberg ’s company, which owns Facebook, to a district court in California over social media account The Westminster Wire’s “false and harassing” posts. The Westminster Wire has regularly posted about Norton since it was created in December 2025, publishing AI-generated images of the presenter and his husband Jonathan McLeod as well as fabricated stories about his personal life every few hours. After filing a submission to the Northern District of California court, Norton was granted a US court order, forcing Meta to reveal who is posting the fake articles, which include false reports of his mother’s death and the host’s supposed ill-health. According to the The Irish Independent https://www.independent.ie/business/irish-business/graham-norton-wins-us-court-order-forcing-meta-to-reveal-operator-of-deeply-upsetting-facebook-account/a/157359000.html , Norton told the court from Bandon in Ireland: “My 94-year mother uses Facebook and has been confronted with reports of her own death.” He added that he has been forced to debunk the false stories to his friends, who’ve read “false accounts of his ill health and the ill health of his husband”. Norton said that he had been targeted with “fabricated statements and AI-generated images” that superimposed him into fake scenarios and the “false attributions of offensive, racist, or otherwise deeply objectionable views and conduct”. “I have not been hospitalised,” Norton said. “I have not donated money to the causes described. I do not hold and have never expressed the racist, xenophobic, anti-immigrant or otherwise divisive and hateful views attributed to me by the account. “My professional reputation is of the utmost importance to my career and livelihood. I rely on my reputation as a broadcaster and public figure whose views are well-known to the public, my employers, and my commercial partners.” Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled. Try for free https://tv.apple.com/gb/channel/tvs.sbd.4000?itscg=30200&itsct=independent tv&ct=offer&at=1000l3akK ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled. Try for free https://tv.apple.com/gb/channel/tvs.sbd.4000?itscg=30200&itsct=independent tv&ct=offer&at=1000l3akK ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. Norton plans to take the person or people responsible for the posts to the High Court in England for legal proceedings, but could not until this point as the account is run anonymously. The Independent has contacted Norton and Meta for comment. Meta has found itself in various courts across the globe recently; earlier this month, a California state court judge rejected bids from Meta Platforms and Google’s YouTube for a new trial /tech/google-meta-denied-new-trial-social-media-addiction-b2993510.html after a jury found them liable for designing social media platforms /tech/meta-liable-social-media-addiction-trial-b2945634.html harmful to young people. In May, the US Supreme Court rejected Meta’s attempt to avoid a lawsuit that /news/instagram-meta-vermont-supreme-court-washington-b2983944.html alleged Facebook and Instagram harmed young users. Norton’s court order over the Westminster Wire account marks his first run-in with the social media company. The presenter is best known for hosting his BBC One chat show The Graham Norton Show as well as his commentating duties during the BBC’s coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest.