According to a recent report, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, an American social media platform, was sued by Attorney General, Karl A. Racine in Washington. Racine accuses Zuckerberg of direct involvement in the decision-making that led to the data breach related to Cambridge Analytica. In a statement, Racine claims there is evidence that Facebook did not protect users’ privacy and data. Furthermore, he also claims that Zuckerberg had personal involvement in the data breach.
In the new lawsuit, Racine alleges that Facebook allows third parties such as the now-defunct political consultancy Cambridge Analytica to access the personal data of 87 million Americans. As of now, Meta, the parent company of Facebook declines any comment on this issue.
Racine said in a press release announcing the new lawsuit.
“This unprecedented security breach exposed tens of millions of Americans’ personal information, and Mr. Zuckerberg’s policies enabled a multi-year effort to mislead users about the extent of Facebook’s wrongful conduct,”…“This lawsuit is not only warranted, but necessary, and sends a message that corporate leaders, including CEOs, will be held accountable for their actions.”
Gizchina News of the week
Racine is not giving up on Zukerberg’s case
This new lawsuit is company after the initial rejection of Racine’s attempt to add Zuckerberg as a defendant to a lawsuit. According to Racine’s office, this is going to be the first time that Zuckerberg will be part of a complaint. Rejecting Racine’s attempt to add Zuckerberg as a defendant, the judge claims that the move “smacks of almost bad faith.”
However, there is a lawsuit against Facebook claiming that it violates D.C.’s consumer protection law. The lawsuit claims that Facebook is misleading users and fails to protect their data. Of course, this lawsuit focuses on the run-up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Furthermore, there are reports that Cambridge Analytica had access to millions of users’ information without their consent courtesy, Facebook.
The dismissal did not discourage Racine’s office as it claims that it needs more time to collect relevant evidence. His target is to prove that Meta’s CEO had personal involvement in the consumer protection violations.
According to CNBC “He said Facebook’s slow evidence disclosure extended the time his office needed to conclude it had the required information to name Zuckerberg directly. Racine told CNBC at the time he was considering bringing a separate suit against Zuckerberg, because we think the evidence shows that Mr. Zuckerberg was intimately part of the misrepresentations around retaining user privacy.”
