Facebook’s Zuckerberg named in swimsuit by Washington, D.C., Attorney General

WASHINGTON :

The District of Columbia’s legal professional normal is searching for to carry Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally liable in a lawsuit stemming from the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal, in what the district mentioned was a novel authorized motion in opposition to the social-media large.

Attorney General Karl Racine mentioned Wednesday he filed a movement so as to add Mr. Zuckerberg as a defendant in a consumer-protection lawsuit initially filed in December 2018 accusing Facebook of deceptive its customers concerning the privateness and safety of their private knowledge. His workplace mentioned it was the primary time a U.S. regulator has particularly named Mr. Zuckerberg in a criticism.

Facebook spokesman Andy Stone mentioned the “allegations are as meritless at this time as they have been greater than three years in the past, when the District filed its criticism.

“We will proceed to defend ourselves vigorously and concentrate on the details,” he mentioned.

Mr. Racine mentioned he made the choice after reviewing firm paperwork as a part of discovery within the lawsuit. “It’s clear Mr. Zuckerberg knowingly and actively participated in every determination that led to Cambridge Analytica’s mass assortment of Facebook person knowledge and Facebook’s misrepresentations to customers about how safe their knowledge was,” he mentioned.

The improvement is a reminder of the authorized threats dealing with Facebook and Mr. Zuckerberg. The Washington, D.C. lawsuit was filed after the disclosure that Cambridge Analytica, a now-defunct political consulting agency, had improperly mined person knowledge.

More not too long ago, officers have been trying into firm paperwork disclosed by a former worker, Frances Haugen, and reported on by The Wall Street Journal, that present the corporate is aware of its platforms are riddled with flaws that trigger hurt.

The Journal’s articles and subsequent Senate hearings have motivated lawmakers to start out writing laws to deal with perceived issues concerning the firm’s platforms. Mr. Racine’s motion reveals the courtroom may be an avenue to deal with these issues.

“We suppose Facebook could now face an identical problem from elevated litigation as Tobacco, or extra not too long ago, OxyContin,” Blair Levin, an analyst with New Street Research, wrote in a latest word to purchasers. He mentioned that class-action lawsuits from personal plaintiffs are additionally a menace to the corporate’s backside line.

Much of the brand new allegations in opposition to Mr. Zuckberberg is redacted as a result of a protecting order in place within the litigation, Mr. Racine mentioned. The legal professional normal, whose time period expires in early 2023, has mentioned he wouldn’t search re-election.

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