Zuckerberg Faces $8B Lawsuit Over Facebook Data Scandal

An $8 billion lawsuit against Mark Zuckerberg and other Meta leaders began Wednesday in Delaware, alleging they illegally collected Facebook users' data in violation of a 2012 agreement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), CE Report quotes Kosova Press.

Jeffrey Zients, White House chief of staff and Meta board member since 2018, is expected to be among the first witnesses. Zuckerberg, former COO Sheryl Sandberg, Peter Thiel, Reed Hastings and Marc Andreessen will also testify.

The lawsuit began after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which obtained the data of millions of users for the Trump campaign in 2016. Facebook was fined $5 billion by the FTC.

According to CNN, shareholders are demanding that Zuckerberg and others cover financial damages and accuse him of personally profiting from selling shares before the price plummeted following the scandal.

The defendants deny the allegations and say Facebook followed outside advice to honor the agreement. Meta is not a party to the proceedings and has not commented.

This is the first case of its kind to reach a court in Delaware, where it alleges a deliberate failure of oversight by the board. A decision is expected in a few months.