Facebook in 2018 faced a lawsuit for illegally harvesting the personal information of over 87 million users. The company is no stranger to litigation as it has been the subject of numerous lawsuits over the years; however, it is the first time that Mark Zuckerberg has been sued individually.
Karl Racine, the District of Columbia Attorney General, announced on Monday that he would be filing a lawsuit against Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder, for violating the district’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act (CPPA) relating to the breach of Cambridge Analytica data. Allegedly, the data was used to manipulate the U.S. presidential election of 2016.
The D.C AG filed a civil lawsuit in the D.C Superior court as he sought damages and penalties from Facebook’s CEO. As per the lawsuit, The Cambridge Analytica Facebook data breach is labeled the “largest consumer privacy scandal” in the history of the United States.
The District of Columbia supposed evidence that Mark Zuckerberg was part of the decision-making that led to the data breach. At the same time, “Facebook misled users with privacy and data protection claims.”
In the words of Recine, “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.
Racine said, “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.”
The District of Columbia also claims that the billionaire had “direct input on Facebook’s internal policies relating to data sharing on the Platform. He was so involved that he personally reviewed certain applications’ use of data.”
Additionally, Mark openly took “personal responsibility for Facebook’s failures leading up to the Cambridge Analytica incident as well.”
The Remedy:
As a remedy, the District of Columbia requests the court to prevent Mark Zuckerberg from any permanent violation of CPPA, order them to pay damages, grant civil penalty, and award the district costs relating to the court’s fees and attorney’s fees to cover the entire action.
Furthermore, they ask the courts to “grant such further relief as the Court deems just and proper.” Recine states, “[t]his lawsuit is warranted, necessary, and sends a message that corporate leaders, including CEOs, will be held accountable for their actions.”
Facebook will most likely seek to dismiss the motion, or it could result in fines against Mark Zuckerberg personally. Facebook already paid a record settlement of over $5 billion over the Cambridge Analytica scandal with the FTC in 2019.
The Facebook shareholders also allegedly stated that the company went the extra mile and paid billions to shield Zuckerberg. However, whether the next D.C AG will preserve the Racine lawsuit is still ambiguous. He has stated that he will run for re-election when his terms end on January 2, 2023.
