Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg defends suing ancestral owners of patches of his $100miillion Hawaii estate 

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has taken to social media to defend plans to sue the ancestral owners of Hawaiian lands so he can expand his luxury estate. 

The billionaire described reports that he was trying to force people off their lands as 'misleading'. 

Last month, he informed his 84.7 million followers about how he and his wife Priscilla were looking to establish a home on the island. 

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, right, pictured with his wife Priscilla, has faced criticism over his plans create a new home for his family in Hawaii in his $100 million estate  

Mark Zuckerburg took to Facebook to explain the situation to his 84.7 million followers 

Zuckerberg is looking to buy out a dozen small parcels of land at his $100 million estate  

However, a local politician has blasted Zuckerberg's plan. 

State Representative Kaniela Ing told Hawaii News Now: 'Whether or not it's moral, everything Zuckerberg is doing now is legal. But luckily in this building, we decide what's legal and not.'

'Yeah, there probably are worse ways he can go about it. That's irrelevant. The fact is he is, Zuckerberg is now a modern colonizer.'

But Zuckerberg dismissed the criticism. He wrote: 'There have been some misleading stories going around today about our plans in Hawaii, so I want to clear this up.'

Zuckerberg said property owning rights in Hawaii are very complicated which has led to some confusion. 

He said: 'The land is made up of a few properties. In each case, we worked with the majority owners of each property and reached a deal they thought was fair and wanted to make on their own.

'As with most transactions, the majority owners have the right to sell their land if they want, but we need to make sure smaller partial owners get paid for their fair share too.'

'In Hawaii, this is where it gets more complicated. As part of Hawaiian history, in the mid-1800s, small parcels were granted to families, which after generations might now be split among hundreds of descendants. There aren't always clear records, and in many cases descendants who own 1/4% or 1% of a property don't even know they are entitled to anything.' 

Zuckerberg said his legal action is an attempt to discover all of the partial owners. 

He continued: '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.

'We are working with a professor of native Hawaiian studies and long time member of this community, who is participating in this quiet title process with us. It is important to us that we respect Hawaiian history and traditions.

'We love Hawaii and we want to be good members of the community and preserve the environment. We look forward to working closely with the community for years to come.' 

 Land owners whose patches are located on Zuckerberg's domain (pictured) are allowed to walk through the property. The billionaire is believed to want to keep his land secluded

Almost a dozen of small parcels on the Facebook co-founder's $100 million Kauai property belong to Hawaiian citizens who acquired them through legislation dating back to 1850, called the Kuleana Act, according to the Star Advertiser.

As such, these land owners are allowed to walk through Zuckerberg's domain. But the billionaire is believed to have filed lawsuits against a few hundred people in the hope that they will sell their parcels at a public auction.

Using the law to induce land sales, which isn't uncommon in Hawaii, can be viewed as problematic because it severs the native Hawaiian community's link to ancestral land. 

The Kuleana Act followed Hawaii's 1848 Great Mahele, a land redistribution decision that enabled private ownership.

Zuckerberg is believed to have sued a few hundred people via several companies that he controls, the Star Advertiser reported. Some of these people, who inherited or owned interest in the land, are dead. 

Land parcels acquired through the Kuleana Act are sometimes passed on from heir to heir with little to no documentation, making it tricky to trace back the ownership.

Three Zuckerberg entities known as Pilaa International LLC, Northshore Kalo LLC and High Flyer LLC filed eight lawsuits on Kauai on December 30, according to the newspaper.

A partner at the Honolulu firm representing the Zuckerberg companies said large parcels of land in Hawaii often include smaller patches whose ownership isn't well known. Some co-owners do not even know that they own part of the land.

Actions such as Zuckerberg's are 'the standard and prescribed process to identify all potential co-owners, determine ownership, and ensure that, if there are other co-owners, each receives appropriate value for their ownership share,' Keoni Shultz said.

One of the defendants named by Zuckerberg is known only as Oma, without a last name, in keeping with old Hawaiian customs.

Similar auctions have in the past led to below-market sales, but according to the Star Advertiser, some of those involved in the Zuckerberg cases believe the billionaire will offer a fair amount of money.