Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg sued by Washington, DC AG

Washington D.C., First Published Might 23, 2022, 7:50 PM IST

The Cambridge Analytica scandal returned to haunt Meta aka Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg with Washington District of Columbia Legal professional Common Karl A Racine saying that his office is suing the social media behemoth's founder for his position in Fb's misleading privateness practices and failure to guard thousands and thousands of customers' information.

The AG's case seeks to hold Zuckerberg accountable for his function in Facebook violating the District's client protection laws by misrepresenting the safety of person information and their blatant disregard and misuse of delicate, personal knowledge belonging to District residents.

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In a sequence of Tweets, Racine mentioned: "Our investigation reveals extensive proof that Zuckerberg was personally involved in failures that led to the Cambridge Analytica incident."

The AG's criticism notes that 'Facebook has become a wildly profitable and distinctive enterprise, deriving monumental wealth from acquiring and monetizing the data of these billions of individuals main their lives in Fb's digital ecosystem.'

The grievance further claims that 'Facebook -- at Zuckerberg's direction -- shifted its business model in this way because it recognized that it might be even more profitable if it may harness and promote the ability to dependably influence its customers' behaviour to third parties. Facebook, subsequently, encouraged (and, at times, teamed up with) developers and researchers to collect and analyze Facebook consumer information so that it might higher learn how to manipulate its personal users’ moods and affect what they buy and even whether or not and the way they vote.

Cambridge Analytica Case

In March 2018, whistleblower Christopher Wylie publicly revealed that an organization referred to as Cambridge Analytica -- a London-based electioneering firm -- exfiltrated the non-public information of greater than 70 million Fb customers in the USA as a way to affect the outcomes of the 2016 United States presidential election. 

This data trove included Facebook customers’ ages, interests, pages they have preferred, groups they belong to, physical locations, political affiliation, spiritual affiliation, relationships, and images, as well as their full names, telephone numbers, and email addresses.

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

Three years later, Fb and Zuckerberg publicly condemned Cambridge Analytica's knowledge collection, which according to AG Racine, only demonstrates that what they are saying publicly is a part of an intentional plan to mask the devastating consequences of their actions.

The Allegations

Focusing on the Cambridge Analytica case, the criticism accused Facebook of actively encouraging companies like Cambridge Analytica to make use of the platform to influence and manipulate consumer behaviour.

'What's most troubling is that Fb regarded into Cambridge Analytica and decided that it posed a threat to shopper data but chose to bury those issues slightly than cease them, as that would have hurt Fb’s (and Zuckerberg’s) backside line. As an alternative of coming clear, Facebook continued to help Cambridge Analytica win a United States presidential election,' the complaint mentioned.

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Last Up to date Could 23, 2022, 7:51 PM IST