LinkedIn Defendant ‘Went Silent’ After ‘Expressing Contrition,’ Says Default Motion

LinkedIn seeks a default judgment against the website TopSocial24 and its owner, Golam Mostafa, for failing to appear or otherwise defend against allegations they sell “inauthentic engagement” on the platform, including fake followers, fake comments, fake likes and fake connections (see 2304260001), said its filing Wednesday (docket 5:23-cv-00110) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Jose. “After admitting to operating TopSocial24 and expressing contrition for his actions” that violated the law, Mostafa “went silent and stopped responding to counsel’s outreach,” it said. “To this day, TopSocial24 advertises the opportunity to buy LinkedIn followers,” it said. TopSocial24 also advertised a “drip-feed” feature through which its customers “could gradually add fake LinkedIn engagement over time, likely in the hopes of evading LinkedIn’s technical defenses and further deceiving members that the engagement is genuine,” it said.