Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg sued by Washington, DC AG

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

The Cambridge Analytica scandal returned to haunt Meta aka Fb CEO Mark Zuckerberg with Washington District of Columbia Lawyer General Karl A Racine saying that his workplace is suing the social media behemoth's founder for his position in Fb's deceptive privacy practices and failure to protect thousands and thousands of customers' data.

The AG's case seeks to carry Zuckerberg accountable for his position in Fb violating the District's client protection laws by misrepresenting the safety of user information and their blatant disregard and misuse of sensitive, personal information belonging to District residents.

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In a series 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 complaint notes that 'Fb has develop into a wildly profitable and unique enterprise, deriving huge wealth from buying and monetizing the information of those billions of people leading their lives in Fb's digital ecosystem.'

The criticism additional claims that 'Fb -- at Zuckerberg's direction -- shifted its enterprise model in this way because it recognized that it might be even more worthwhile if it could harness and sell the ability to dependably affect its users' behaviour to third parties. Facebook, therefore, inspired (and, at times, teamed up with) builders and researchers to gather and analyze Fb user data in order that it may higher discover ways to manipulate its personal users’ moods and influence what they purchase and even whether or not and how they vote.

Cambridge Analytica Case

In March 2018, whistleblower Christopher Wylie publicly revealed that an organization called Cambridge Analytica -- a London-based electioneering agency -- exfiltrated the personal information of more than 70 million Fb users in the USA with the intention to affect the results of the 2016 United States presidential election. 

This information trove included Facebook customers’ ages, interests, pages they have preferred, teams they belong to, bodily places, political affiliation, spiritual affiliation, relationships, and photos, in addition to their full names, phone numbers, and electronic mail addresses.

The private information of the greater than 70 million US Fb users that Cambridge Analytica used to control the election accounted for more than half the full votes throughout the 2016 presidential elections, in an election that was effectively decided by just a few hundred thousand people. 

Three years later, Facebook and Zuckerberg publicly condemned Cambridge Analytica's data collection, which in accordance with AG Racine, solely demonstrates that what they are saying publicly is part of an intentional plan to mask the devastating consequences of their actions.

The Allegations

Focusing on the Cambridge Analytica case, the criticism accused Fb of actively encouraging companies like Cambridge Analytica to use the platform to affect and manipulate shopper behaviour.

'What is most troubling is that Fb appeared into Cambridge Analytica and determined that it posed a threat to consumer knowledge however selected to bury these considerations relatively than cease them, as that would have damage Facebook’s (and Zuckerberg’s) backside line. As a substitute of coming clean, Facebook continued to assist Cambridge Analytica win a United States presidential election,' the criticism mentioned.

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