Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg sued by Washington, DC AG

Washington D.C., First Published Could 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 Basic Karl A Racine saying that his office is suing the social media behemoth's founder for his role in Facebook's misleading privacy practices and failure to protect millions of users' data.

The AG's case seeks to hold Zuckerberg accountable for his role in Fb violating the District's client protection legal guidelines by misrepresenting the safety of user data and their blatant disregard and misuse of sensitive, private data belonging to District residents.

Also Read: Eating places cannot drive prospects to pay service charge: Govt

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

The AG's criticism notes that 'Fb has turn into a wildly successful and distinctive business, deriving monumental wealth from acquiring and monetizing the info of these billions of people main their lives in Fb's digital ecosystem.'

The criticism further claims that 'Facebook -- at Zuckerberg's route -- shifted its business model in this approach because it acknowledged that it may very well be even more profitable if it might harness and sell the ability to dependably affect its customers' behaviour to 3rd events. Facebook, subsequently, encouraged (and, at instances, teamed up with) developers and researchers to collect and analyze Facebook person knowledge so that it might better discover ways to manipulate its own customers’ moods and affect what they buy and even whether or not and how 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 agency -- exfiltrated the non-public information of more than 70 million Facebook customers in america with the intention to influence the outcomes of the 2016 United States presidential election. 

This data trove included Facebook users’ ages, pursuits, pages they've favored, teams they belong to, physical locations, political affiliation, spiritual affiliation, relationships, and photographs, as well as their full names, telephone numbers, and email 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 overall votes throughout the 2016 presidential elections, in an election that was effectively decided by just a few hundred thousand individuals. 

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

The Allegations

Specializing in the Cambridge Analytica case, the complaint accused Fb of actively encouraging firms like Cambridge Analytica to use the platform to influence 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 those concerns somewhat than stop them, as that would have hurt Facebook’s (and Zuckerberg’s) backside line. Instead of coming clean, Facebook continued to help Cambridge Analytica win a United States presidential election,' the criticism mentioned.

Additionally Learn: PM Modi's reforms altering India into a model landscape: Japan Inc

Final Updated Might 23, 2022, 7:51 PM IST