- Meta Platforms and shareholders reach agreement to resolve privacy lawsuit
- The dispute arises after the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the FTC sanction.
- The settlement avoids public testimony from Mark Zuckerberg and other top executives.
- Details of the agreement remain confidential until court approval.
The multinational Meta Platforms, known primarily for being the parent company of Facebook, has closed a out-of-court settlement with a group of shareholders who sued it for failing to adequately protect its users' personal data. This resolution concludes a highly publicized legal case and sheds light on one of the most controversial episodes in the technology company's history.
The litigation dates back to a complaint filed in 2018. Following the massive data leak caused by the British consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, which gained unauthorized access to the information of millions of Facebook users, the news of the lawsuit and the subsequent legal proceedings heightened the social debate about privacy and data use on social media.
The origin of the lawsuit and the Cambridge Analytica scandal
The whole conflict starts from the revelation in 2018 that Cambridge Analytica had collected data from Facebook users without their consent, using that information to create political profiles that were allegedly used in the 2016 US presidential campaign. This incident dealt a severe blow to Facebook's image, triggering criticism from various quarters and a record fine from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The FTC imposed a historic $5.000 billion fine the company for considering that it failed to comply with its obligation to guarantee the privacy of its users' personal information, as stipulated in a prior agreement signed in 2012.
The shareholders' position and the legal process
The shareholders, in their class action lawsuit, alleged that Meta's board of directors had failed to fulfill his responsibilities by failing to prevent the misuse of data, which resulted in the payment of the fine and other legal expenses. They were claiming total compensation of around $8.000 billion., not only for the amount paid to the FTC but also for other costs related to the scandal.
The trial was closely followed by public opinion because the intervention of Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg and other executives, called to testify in a process that promised to expose internal failures in privacy management at Meta.
The protagonists and the resolution of the dispute
According to cited sources, the agreement was reached during the second day of hearings in Delaware, where Meta Platforms is headquartered. Among the senior officials involved were Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO, and several former executives. Judge Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick, who presided over the case, praised the fact that both sides reached a consensus before protracting the court proceedings.
The exact details of the agreement will remain confidential until they are officially filed in court, which is expected to happen in the coming weeks. The outcome allows Meta to avoid further public and potentially compromising testimony, ensuring the closure of one of the company's most complex litigation cases.
This episode demonstrates the high reputational and economic costs that poor data management on digital platforms like Facebook can entail.
