Facebook sues South Korean data analytics firm Rankwave to make sure it isn't breaking rules

Facebook on Friday filed a lawsuit against South Korean data analytics firm Rankwave to make sure it isn't breaking the leading social network's rules.

In a statement, Facebook’s director of platform and litigation Jessica Romero said, “A lawsuit was filed against Rankwave in a California State court in Silicon Valley to enforce terms the company agreed to in order to operate apps on the social network.”

Romero further said, “Facebook was investigating Rankwave data practices relating to advertising and marketing and the South Korean company didn't co-operate with efforts to confirm it was complying with policies for all developers synching to the platform.”

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Facebook has already suspended apps and accounts associated with Rankwave, and asked the court to order Rankwave to abide by its rules for applications, according to Romero.

"By filing the lawsuit, we are sending a message to developers that Facebook is serious about enforcing our policies, including requiring developers to co-operate with us during an investigation," Romero said.

On the other hand, Rankwave denied that it violated Facebook’s terms but didn’t provide sufficient evidence to Facebook of that being the case.

Over the past year, the social network has come under fire following revelations of the hijacking of personal data of tens of millions of users by Cambridge Analytica, a consultancy working for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

A series of other revelations showed Facebook may have also shared more private data with business partners and advertisers than it had reported, and may have exposed some personal information that should have been secured.

At the same time, Facebook has been hiring thousands of additional employees to deal with issues such as hate speech, incitement to violence and manipulation aimed at voters.