Meta Platforms and several of its current and former executives — including CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former COO Sheryl Sandberg — have agreed to settle a shareholder lawsuit seeking $8 billion in damages over repeated Facebook privacy violations.
Facebook Privacy Violations that Caused the Penalty on Meta
The settlement was disclosed in a Delaware court on Thursday.
While the exact terms remain confidential, attorneys informed Judge Kathaleen McCormick that both sides had reached a swift agreement.
The judge, who was presiding over the second day of the trial, congratulated the parties and adjourned the proceedings.
The lawsuit was filed by Meta shareholders aiming to hold top executives accountable for the massive financial penalties and legal expenses the company incurred over the years.
The most notable of these was a $5 billion fine imposed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2019, following Facebook’s failure to comply with a 2012 agreement to safeguard user data.
Zuckerberg Appears in Court Due to Facebook Privacy Violations
The trial had been expected to include testimonies from billionaire board member Marc Andreessen and Sheryl Sandberg.
Zuckerberg was scheduled to appear in court on Monday.
Shareholders claimed that Zuckerberg, Sandberg, and nine other former and current board members knowingly mismanaged Facebook’s data practices, effectively turning the platform into an unauthorized data-harvesting operation.
Plaintiffs demanded that the defendants pay compensation to the company from their personal assets. The defendants strongly denied the allegations, labeling them “extreme.”
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Facebook Privacy Violations Affects Millions of Users
Facebook rebranded as Meta in 2021 but is not a named defendant in the lawsuit.
Investors argued that the company’s leadership repeatedly failed to ensure compliance with the FTC agreement.
Especially in light of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. In that case, the now-defunct political consulting firm accessed data from millions of Facebook users without consent.
Ultimately contributing to the record-setting FTC fine.
In response to the ongoing privacy concerns, Meta stated on its website that it has invested billions of dollars since 2019 to enhance user privacy and data security.
