BrewDog boss James Watt takes Meta to court in bid to reveal who is behind ‘online smear campaign’

​Watt is represented by WP Tweed, a firm led by solicitor Paul Tweed, known for specialising in defamation and cases against social media firms.

The BrewDog chief executive is seeking a Norwich Pharmacal disclosure order against Meta which would force the social media giant, which owns Facebook and Instagram, to reveal the sign-up details of anonymous accounts.

The case has been entered in the High Court’s chancery list and is up for mention on February 20.

It is understood the legal action is linked to an online smear campaign against Watt that involved an ex-girlfriend and led to him being scammed out of £100,000 (€114,000) in Bitcoin.

Last year the Court of Session in Edinburgh awarded Watt £600,000 from Emili Ziem, an ex-girlfriend of his, after ruling she scammed Watt (40) by claiming she could help identify those who were falsely accusing the businessman of harassing women and other criminal matters on social media.

Watt, the son of a wealthy fisherman, first met Ziem, a model and bioprocess engineer, through Instagram in 2020.

In May 2021, Watt’s friends began to receive disparaging messages about him from an account in the name of Laura Keller. The messages accused him of “abusing his position” with women.

Ziem told Watt she was at a party where she heard an ex-girlfriend of his talking about a vendetta to “bring him down”.

She promised to make friends with individuals and identify them in exchange for £25,000 worth of Bitcoin for each name she revealed.

After paying Ziem four times, Watt became suspicious and employed a private detective. He was able to show Ziem was behind the scam.

“Tripwire” links had showed the messages were sent from her workplace and home in Edinburgh.​

Watt has been the subject of a number of adverse claims from former BrewDog employees over his management style and he has promised to change the culture at the business that employs 2,200 people.

Its one Irish establishment opened in Dublin’s docklands in 2019.

The BBC, which broadcast an investigation into BrewDog’s treatment of staff, has said Ziem was not one of its sources but this is disputed by Watt. Ziem had posted on Instagram that she spoke to the journalist involved in the BBC Scotland broadcast.

Although she was initially represented in the civil action in Edinburgh, Ziem was not represented or present when the final judgment was handed down last year.

She has denied the facts of the Scottish case and has said she was not aware it was proceeding.

In his ruling, the Scottish judge, Neil Brailsford, said: “The contract or other arrangement by which the pursuer agreed to transfer to the defender the Bitcoin assets was induced by fraudulent misrepresentation made by the defender.”

In a LinkedIn post, Watt said: “For the past two years I have been the subject of a vicious and relentless campaign of abuse, often by troll accounts posting and sharing appalling lies about me (often direct to family and friends) —lies that were then amplified all over the internet.

“I want to say I didn’t go to court lightly, but I have been harassed, defrauded and defamed, and it has deeply affected me, my family and my business. I had no choice.”

Watt is taking a private prosecution against Ziem about the online harassment in England.

The ruling also said that Ziem should pay Watt the expenses he incurred while trying to get to the bottom of the fraud, a total of £500,000.

In an interview last year, Watt admitted he had been “too intense and demanding” in BrewDog and pushed people “too far”, but he said the behaviour had been well-intentioned.