Cambridge Analytica: D.C. Sues Zuckerberg for complicity
District of Columbia has sued Mark Zuckerberg, Meta Platforms Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer for complicity in the 2016 Cambridge Analytica data alleging that his lax oversight has led to the data breach that allowed Cambridge Analytica which was hired by Donald Trump to target Facebook users during the 2016 presidential election.
In the lawsuit filed by D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, Zuckerberg in the D.C. Superior Court, the AG sought damages and penalties from Mr. Zuckerberg for complicity in the data reach.
The lawsuit maintains that Mr. Zuckerberg directly participated in important company decisions and was aware of the potential dangers of sharing users’ data, such as occurred in the case involving data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica.
A “sweeping investigation” revealed that Zuckerberg contributed to lax oversight of user data and the creation of misleading privacy agreements that resulted in Cambridge Analytica and other third parties getting their hands on the personal information of 87 million Americans, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine said in a statement on Monday.
Stating the reason for going after Zuckerberg as a person, Racine said: “We continue to persist and have followed the evidence right to Mr. Zuckerberg, The evidence shows Mr. Zuckerberg was personally involved in Facebook’s failure to protect the privacy and data of its users leading directly to the Cambridge Analytica incident.
Cambridge Analytica was hired by Donald Trump as its political consultant for the 2016 campaigns of Trump, Ted Cruz, and Ben Carson, all Republicans. It was founded in 2013 by former Renaissance Technologies co-CEO Robert Mercer, a major supporter of Trump in 2016. Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist, was one of the campaign’s liaisons to Cambridge Analytica, which collapsed after revelations about its harvesting and use of personal data.
The data was alleged to have been used to manipulate the 2016 US presidential election.
Mr. Zuckerberg, who co-founded Facebook and has headed its board since 2012, controls more than 50% of Facebook’s voting shares and “maintains an unparalleled level of control over the operations of Facebook as it has grown into the largest social media company in the world,” the lawsuit says.
The social media giant has nearly three billion users worldwide.
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