D.C. Attorney General sues Mark Zuckerberg over 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal

DC Attorney General Karl Racine has filed a lawsuit against Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in relation to the Cambridge Analytica data leak scandal, which in 2018 may have led to the firm receiving data from millions of Facebook users.

The lawsuit accuses Zuckerberg of misleading the public by failing to promptly notify Facebook users of a data leak that fed user data of up to 87 million people to Cambridge Analytica, a data firm also used by the Trump 2016 presidential campaign. Racine filed the suit in DC superior court in an attempt to hold Zuckerberg personally liable for the failure to properly monitor third parties’ use of user data.

Racine outlined the reasons for his suit in a statement on Monday. “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,” he 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. This lawsuit is not only warranted, but necessary, and sends a message that corporate leaders, including CEOs, will be held accountable for their actions.”

Racine’s office has filed several lawsuits against large tech corporations, as he attempts to take a hard stance against the tech industry. He has also filed a suit against Amazon, which was dismissed, and joined in a suit against Google, also over misleading privacy practices.

The suit alleges Zuckerberg was aware of the possibility that opening up Facebook to third party developers may result in user data being vulnerable, but failed to take action to prevent any mishandling of user information. Meta has not responded publicly to the filing of the lawsuit.