Meta Settles Lawsuit Over Facebook User Privacy
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and a group of current and former company directors and officers have agreed to settle a lawsuit seeking $8 billion in damages, according to a report by Reuters. The settlement will see Zuckerberg and the others pay out to Meta shareholders as compensation for damages allegedly caused by allowing repeated violations of Facebook users’ privacy.

Details of the Settlement
The parties have not disclosed the details of the settlement, but it is assumed that the payout was less than the $8 billion originally sought by the plaintiffs. Judge Kathaleen McCormick adjourned the trial just as it was set to enter its second day, and before any of the major players, including Zuckerberg, were forced to take the stand.

Witnesses and Defendants
Billionaire venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, a defendant in the trial and a Meta director, was scheduled to testify, along with former COO Sheryl Sandberg and former board member Peter Thiel. Shareholders sued Zuckerberg, Andreessen, Sandberg, and others to hold them liable for the billions of dollars in fines and legal costs the company has been forced to pay out in recent years due to alleged privacy violations.

Background of the Case
The case stems from the company’s handling of user data, including a $5 billion fine imposed by the FTC in 2019 after finding that Facebook failed to comply with a 2012 agreement to protect user data. The fine was the largest ever issued at the time. Company shareholders wanted the 11 defendants to use their personal wealth to reimburse the company, alleging that they failed to oversee FTC compliance and knowingly ran Facebook as an illegal data harvesting operation.

Related Cases
This case is just one of several pending against the company. A big antitrust case pits the FTC against Meta, alleging that the company participated in anticompetitive practices by purchasing Instagram and WhatsApp. The trial has ended, but no decision has been reached. Additionally, Zuckerberg has been implicated in a case alleging that Meta knowingly used pirated materials to train its Llama AI. The company is also paying $25 million to settle a lawsuit with Donald Trump over his 2021 Facebook suspension.

Cambridge Analytica Scandal
The case is linked to the infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which the political consulting firm accessed data from millions of Facebook users as part of Donald Trump’s successful 2016 presidential campaign. The scandal led to the FTC fine and has had long-lasting repercussions for the company. Several people had already taken the stand before both parties reached a settlement, including an expert witness for the plaintiffs who testified about "gaps and weaknesses" in Facebook’s privacy policies.