Settlement Reached in Meta Privacy Lawsuit
WILMINGTON, Del. — A courtroom settlement was announced on Thursday in a lawsuit against Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other company leaders, related to the privacy concerns that arose during the Cambridge Analytica incident.
The class action lawsuit, which sought billions of dollars for legal fees and fines, was resolved just as the trial was set to enter its second day. Details regarding the settlement were not disclosed, and the attorneys for the case left the courtroom without making any statements. A spokesperson for Meta also declined to comment on the matter.
The investors claimed that Meta failed to adequately inform Facebook users about the potential misuse of their personal information by Cambridge Analytica, a consulting firm that played a significant role in Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. They argued that Meta continuously violated a 2012 agreement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that required them to stop sharing personal data without users’ permission.
The lawsuit accused Facebook of selling user data to business partners, breaching the consent order, and removing essential privacy disclosures from user settings.
In response to the FTC’s allegations, Facebook previously agreed to pay a hefty $5.1 billion penalty and faced substantial fines in Europe. Additionally, the company reached a $725 million settlement with users regarding privacy breaches.
Shareholders were seeking reimbursement of around $8 billion or more from Zuckerberg and other executives for the costs associated with the FTC fines. Key figures, including Zuckerberg and former Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, were expected to testify in court. Other notable defendants included board members like Marc Andreessen and Peter Thiel.
Earlier this year, Sandberg faced sanctions for deleting emails pertinent to the Cambridge Analytica inquiry. Jeffrey Zients, who served as an outside director from 2018 to 2020, was not sanctioned as his position limited his access to relevant information. During the early stages of the lawsuit, Zients expressed his support for the FTC settlement that shareholders were seeking to be reimbursed for.
