Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg sued for Cambridge Analytica data leak. Why?
Facebook was all the rage some 15 years ago. It was a cool factor to have a Facebook profile; preferably of your favourite Hollywood star. Just a decade down the line, Facebook doesn’t seem all that alluring anymore.
Social media giants are being taken to task. And when it comes to Facebook (now Meta Inc), it seems like the company can’t catch a breath from the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal. Facebook has been sued multiple times in the past for various reasons, including the infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal. However, it seems like taking a company to task is not enough. People are holding the “genius” CEOs also accountable.
What's new: Meta Inc (formerly Facebook) CEO Mark Zuckerberg is facing a lawsuit over privacy breach. Washington DC Attorney General Karl Racine slapped Zuckerberg with a lawsuit for being personally involved in the 2018 Cambridge Analytica incident. Racine had earlier also sued Facebook in the scandal in 2018.
What the lawsuit cites:
- Basis of the lawsuit: Facebook’s 2010 decision to open up the Facebook Platform to third parties
- Zuckerberg encouraged Facebook’s developers and researchers to collaborate with third parties to collect and analyse users’ data to manipulate their behaviour
- Intentionally misled Facebook users as well as the public, the press, and political leaders on data privacy
What is Cambridge Analytica?
In 2018, whistleblower Christopher Wylie revealed some worrying information to the public about a London-based electioneering firm called Cambridge Analytica. The revelation: Cambridge Analytica had bought personal data of more than 70 million Facebook users in the US.
This data was allegedly used to influence the results of the 2016 US Presidential election when Donald Trump was elected President. The data gave insights into users’ age, interests, political and religious affiliations, relationships, photos, full names, phone numbers, email addresses, etc.
Following the revelation, the US government fined Facebook (Meta) $5 billion.
Why does the lawsuit matter now? Scandals involving Facebook have been met with lawsuits against the company. It is rare that the CEO or owner of the company is personally charged with the lawsuit. However, in this case, AG Karl Racine wants to hold the mastermind behind the company’s activities personally accountable.
Besides, according to some reports based on complaints by Facebook shareholders, the company even overpaid its $5 billion fine to the US government to keep Zuckerberg’s name out of any litigation.
However, all that money doesn’t seem to be able to shut the lid on one of Facebook’s worst scandals ever.
Why it matters: Facebook's parent company Meta, owned by Zuckerberg, owns Instagram and WhatsApp, the two most popular social media apps, in addition to Facebook, of course. So, all of this user data is still in the hands of Zuckerberg.
If you do not understand why leaking your personal information to third parties is dangerous, watch the 2020 documentary The Social Dilemma. Social media giants can use data points based on your internet activity to make a profile of you, predict your behaviour and eventually influence and/or manipulate your behaviour.
Facebook has been in hot water for quite some time now. Just before it changed its name to Meta, the company was reeling from the bombshell revelations made by former Facebook employee Frances Haugen.
Among Haugen’s several revelations was the way Facebook’s new algorithm change to its news feed worked. The algorithm pushed more negative and divisive news to users. They found that harmful and hateful content got more engagement and hence, more profits.
In India too, Facebook was accused of boosting the campaigns of the ruling party, BJP, during the 2019 general elections.