Johnson v. Googleplex sees pro se defamation suit over alleged smear campaign in New York federal court.
Derrick M. Johnson, also known as Derrick Muhammad Johnson, has filed a pro se complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York against Googleplex (Google), Instagram and its parent company Meta, and an organization known as "Stopdeedtheft," along with unidentified Jane and John Does numbering in the thousands.
The case is docketed at 26-cv-2158-LDH-VMS, assigned to District Judge DeArcy Hall and Magistrate Judge Scanlon. The complaint was filed in April 2026.
Johnson alleges that the defendants participated in or enabled a coordinated public smear campaign against him, spreading false accusations of criminal conduct that he contends were untrue and made with deliberate and malicious intent to cause irreparable harm. He describes himself as a Nassau County, New York resident who has suffered reputational and personal damage as a result.
The complaint identifies Googleplex at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, California, and characterizes Google as a platform with over two billion users whose failure to implement adequate safeguards allowed damaging false information to spread against private citizens. The filing is presented without counsel.
Johnson also notes in the complaint that he was recently evicted from his residence in what he alleges was a violation of the automatic stay of a pending bankruptcy proceeding in the Eastern District of New York.
The case is at the earliest stages of litigation. No defendant has yet appeared or answered.
David Brunk is a civil litigation attorney. He can be reached at david@newmanbrunk.com.
The allegations described here are taken from the filing and remain unproven; no responsive pleading is reflected in the source document.
David Brunk is a civil litigation attorney. He can be reached at david@newmanbrunk.com.
From the Complaint Public Court Record
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = X DERRICK M. JOHNSON, AKA DERRICK MUHAMMAD JOHNSON, Plaintiff, FEDERAL COMPLAINT -AGAINST- Docket No# GOOGLEPLEX (HEADQUARTERS)' google' -and- INSTAGRAM (headquarter), also META (HEADQUARTERS)aka 'FACEBOOK' -And- JANE DOES 1-1000+ JOHN DOES 1-1000+ -And- 'Stopdeedtheft' group/organization, (all unknown and known participants as Individuals, private citizens, entities, Parties with or without interest), Defendant(s) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = == = = TO: ALL NAMED DEFENDANTS HEREIN ------ PRO SE OFFICE = = = = X Plaintiff, Derrick Muhammad Johnson appearing Pro-Se herein as individual party plaintiff, being duly sworn, depose and say for its Complaint in support of a summons, alleged claims against defendants as follows: FIRST VIOLA'I'ION: The illegal use of public and social media to create an public wide ' .. smear campaign against an innocent, America citizen, namely plaintiff herein ..... of alleged acts or criminal acts that were not true, unsupportive and done so deliberate and malicious intent and with intent to cause irr�arable harm ... " [] 26-cv-2158-LDH-VMS DeArcy Hall, J Scanlon, MJ
PARTIES INVOLVED • That at all time hereinafter mentioned, plaintiff Derrick M. Johnson was and still is resident and has conducted business and has residence in New York, County of Nassau and he resides is located 970 Hillman Avenue, West Hempstead, New York (but was recently evicted in violation of the automatic stay of a bankruptcy that is pending in the United States Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of New York) [using email address LLWRINGSl@YABOO.COM] • That at all-time hereinafter mentioned, defendant Goo g leplex-Readquarters, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain, Ca 94043, a giant social media platform who has over 2 Billion subsc
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