Mark Zuckerberg will testify in court as Meta faces an $8 billion lawsuit related to Cambridge Analytica
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify in court, facing a lawsuit over the $8 billion Cambridge Analytica case. The lawsuit alleges that Zuckerberg allowed third parties to access user data without user consent, violating an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission. The plaintiffs seek over $8 billion in damages, claiming that Zuckerberg sold off at least $1 billion in stocks before the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The defense stated that they would provide evidence proving that Facebook is the victim and emphasized that Zuckerberg's stock transactions were for fundraising for charity
According to Zhitong Finance APP, Meta (META.US) CEO Mark Zuckerberg will appear as a key witness in an $8 billion lawsuit trial this week. The lawsuit accuses him of operating Facebook as an illegal enterprise and allowing third parties to access user data without user consent.
This lawsuit is related to the 2018 Cambridge Analytica incident. The now-defunct political consulting firm was revealed to have obtained data from millions of Facebook users and had previously provided services for Trump's first campaign for the U.S. presidency.
After the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke, shareholders sued Zuckerberg and other current and former employees, accusing them of violating a user data protection agreement that Facebook reached with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2012. Shareholders are seeking more than $8 billion in damages, including a $5 billion fine imposed by the FTC for violating the agreement.
Reports indicate that shareholders stated in pre-trial court documents that they can prove Facebook continued to engage in deceptive privacy practices under Zuckerberg's direction after the 2012 agreement was signed. The plaintiffs also accused Zuckerberg of selling off stock to cash out at least $1 billion when he anticipated the Cambridge Analytica scandal would break and lead to a drop in stock prices.
The defense argues that evidence will show the company formed a privacy oversight team and hired external compliance firms, and that Facebook was a "deliberate victim" of Cambridge Analytica's deception. The defense claims evidence will show that Zuckerberg reduced his stock holdings through a pre-set stock trading plan, with the motivation being to fund his charitable endeavors.
Defendants in the case include former Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, venture capitalist and board member Marc Andreessen, and former board members Peter Thiel (co-founder of Palantir Technologies) and Reed Hastings (co-founder of Netflix).
This non-jury trial taking place in Wilmington, Delaware, is expected to last eight days
