Stop Mark Zuckerberg from colonizing Kauai: What is the truth behind viral petition with 150K signatures?
Is Mark Zuckerberg suing Native Hawaiians in Kauai for their land? If a new petition is to be believed, then the Facebook CEO is on a mission to build a new mansion in Hawaii's fourth-largest island also known as the Garden Island.
A Change.org petition has almost reached its 1,50,000 goal with more than 1,44,000 signatures but is it true or based on an old 2017 story? "Mark Zuckerberg is the sixth richest man in the world... and he is suing Native Hawaiians in Kauai for their land so he can build a mansion. They have built lives there. They have built families there. Hawaiians are already mistreated enough as is. We need to let them have this," it reads.
The post further says, "Their land is important to them. He’s building a mansion to what? Live in Kauai for two months out of the year? This is inhuman. It is sick. He needs to be stopped. He could literally build a house anywhere else. There are plenty of open spaces no one has claimed. Yet he has to pick a place where people are trying to make a living and support their families? It’s disgusting. Don’t let the privileged steal things that don’t belong to them any longer."
Urging more people to lend their support, it further said, "If you sign this petition, you could potentially save lives and families. Don’t stay silent about this just because he’s rich. The rich have enough already. They’re greedy. This is greedy. He has ten homes already, including surrounding properties to ensure his privacy. He has enough. Like this is ridiculous."
There are no new reports on this and MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) cannot independently prove whether the claims being made on the Internet are true. However, it circles back to a 2017 report in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser when Zuckerberg began filing lawsuits against Hawaiian landowners who own small slices of his estate that were passed down from generation to generation. Eight suits were reportedly filed against hundreds of people, of which many were dead. Moreover, Zuckerberg had clarified it back then on his Facebook page calling them "misleading stories" and said, "To find all these partial owners so we can pay them their fair share, we filed what is called a "quiet title" action. For most of these folks, they will now receive money for something they never even knew they had. No one will be forced off the land."
While it could be a false rumor swirling around, once shared on social media, it soon caught many eyeballs and caused quite a stir. "It is chilling to me how Mark Zuckerberg is suing Native Hawaiians off their land just to colonize it. They have built their whole lives and families there, he is using his privilege to steal what doesn't belong to him. Please speak up, sign this petition," one Twitter thread read.
"Mark Zuckerberg is trying to sue families in Hawaii, to force my people to sell him our land. He even filed lawsuits against owners who are dead. Leave Hawaiian land in Hawaiian HANDS. Stop the white man from colonizing our island," one tweet said and another read, "Mark Zuckerberg, the sixth richest man on the planet, who has TEN DIFFERENT HOUSES is literally suing pacific islanders in Hawaii for their land because he wants to build another mansion???? just because he can??? anyway, eat the rich."
What's more, many started slamming him. "Mark Zuckerberg is a f**king scumbag. Remember he sells your data to pay for this s**t," one tweet read and another said, "No one lives on the land he purchased, and he's simply trying to pay off any owners of small tracts of land within the property he purchased 6 years ago. He's not displacing anybody.... In fact, hundreds of people may receive nice payouts."
Dragging other billionaires into the picture, one said, "Jeff Bezos & Elon Musk are both planning to colonize space for human habitats. Bezos cashes out $1 billion in stock from Amazon every year for his plan. Musk says the only reason he seeks to make a profit is to finance his outer space program."