Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg sued by Washington, DC AG

Washington D.C., First Printed May 23, 2022, 7:50 PM IST

The Cambridge Analytica scandal returned to haunt Meta aka Fb CEO Mark Zuckerberg with Washington District of Columbia Attorney Basic Karl A Racine announcing that his office is suing the social media behemoth's founder for his position in Facebook's misleading privacy practices and failure to guard tens of millions of users' data.

The AG's case seeks to hold Zuckerberg accountable for his position in Fb violating the District's consumer protection legal guidelines by misrepresenting the protection of user knowledge and their blatant disregard and misuse of delicate, personal data belonging to District residents.

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In a series of Tweets, Racine mentioned: "Our investigation shows intensive evidence that Zuckerberg was personally involved in failures that led to the Cambridge Analytica incident."

The AG's grievance notes that 'Facebook has grow to be a wildly successful and unique business, deriving monumental wealth from buying and monetizing the info of these billions of people leading their lives in Facebook's digital ecosystem.'

The grievance additional claims that 'Fb -- at Zuckerberg's course -- shifted its business model on this means as a result of it acknowledged that it could be much more profitable if it may harness and sell the flexibility to dependably affect its users' behaviour to 3rd parties. Fb, subsequently, encouraged (and, at instances, teamed up with) developers and researchers to collect and analyze Fb person knowledge so that it could better learn to manipulate its personal customers’ moods and influence what they buy and even whether and how they vote.

Cambridge Analytica Case

In March 2018, whistleblower Christopher Wylie publicly revealed that an organization known as Cambridge Analytica -- a London-based electioneering agency -- exfiltrated the personal information of more than 70 million Facebook customers in the US with the intention to influence the results of the 2016 United States presidential election. 

This information trove included Facebook customers’ ages, interests, pages they've appreciated, groups they belong to, physical areas, political affiliation, spiritual affiliation, relationships, and photographs, as well as their full names, telephone numbers, and email addresses.

The personal data of the greater than 70 million US Facebook users that Cambridge Analytica used to govern the election accounted for more than half the total votes throughout the 2016 presidential elections, in an election that was effectively determined by just a few hundred thousand individuals. 

Three years later, Fb and Zuckerberg publicly condemned Cambridge Analytica's knowledge collection, which in line with AG Racine, solely demonstrates that what they say publicly is a part of an intentional plan to mask the devastating penalties of their actions.

The Allegations

Focusing on the Cambridge Analytica case, the grievance accused Facebook of actively encouraging companies like Cambridge Analytica to use the platform to affect and manipulate client behaviour.

'What is most troubling is that Fb looked into Cambridge Analytica and determined that it posed a risk to consumer information but selected to bury these considerations moderately than cease them, as that would have harm Fb’s (and Zuckerberg’s) bottom line. Instead of coming clear, Fb continued to help Cambridge Analytica win a United States presidential election,' the grievance stated.

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Last Updated Might 23, 2022, 7:51 PM IST