WOMAN ARRESTED, SUED FOR ONLINE REVIEW OF TOMATO PASTE

A Nigerian woman is in a little trouble after posting an online review of a can of tomato puree. Last September, Chioma Okoli, a 39-year-old entrepreneuer from Lagos, asked her 18,000 followers on Facebook to share their opinions about a tomato puree she bought in place of her usual brands. She thought it was too sweet. One of the comments said, “Stop spoiling my brother’s product. If you don’t like it, use another one.” Ms. Okoli responded: “Help me advise your brother to stop killing people with his product, yesterday was my first time of using and it’s pure sugar.” A week later she was arrested, charged with “instigating people against Erisco Foods,” the manufacturer of the tomato puree. For this, she faces 10 years in jail and a $7,000 fine. In addition, she is being sued in a separate civil case brought by Erisco, which claims her comments caused several suppliers to pull their products from stores, and they also suffered the loss of multiple credit lines. Erisco is seeking more than $3 million in damages. She is now gearing up for the two legal battles with her defense largely based on the right to freedom of speech.
* Nah – her defense should be she was being impersonated by AI.
* Tomato paste that’s loaded with sugar? America says, “How do I get my hands on that?”
* I guess Nigeria isn’t a big fan of hyperbole.
* Normally, I wouldn’t have a problem with the government locking up people who use the internet to comment on food, but this is excessive.
* She could solve the whole issue by claiming she mistook the tomato paste for ketchup.