I'll allow a little "didn't read TFA to the end" on such a wordy article that buries the lede, but yes, waaaay down the page is mention of Meta suing the origin

I'll allow a little "didn't read TFA to the end" on such a wordy article that buries the lede, but yes, waaaay down the page is mention of Meta suing the original "Unfollow Everything" author (who is different than software dev in TFA) and banning them for life. Hence the professor's preemptive strike. OTOH, El Reg could've done better by stating upfront the answer to the (and your) obvious question.