Remember the Cambridge Analytica scandal? Zuckerberg and Meta settle $8 billion lawsuit

The settlement was announced Thursday during a hearing in Delaware, just as the trial was about to begin its second day. Details of the settlement remain confidential for the moment, and attorneys for the defense offered no comment, while the judge congratulated both sides on resolving the matter.

The lawsuit, brought by Meta shareholders, accused Zuckerberg, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, Sandberg, and other former executives of failing to prevent privacy breaches that cost the company billions in regulatory fines.

The dispute centered on Facebook's failure to follow a 2012 FTC agreement to protect user data, which led to a $5 billion fine in 2019. Shareholders wanted executives to repay the company from their own wealth, but the defendants called the claims "extreme" and denied any wrongdoing.



The trial was expected to feature testimony from prominent figures, including Zuckerberg, Sandberg, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel. Zuckerberg was slated to testify Monday, and Sandberg later in the week. Sandberg was criticized for deleting important emails, which hurt her defense in court. By settling, she and the others avoid having to testify under oath or reveal information that could harm them.

At the core of the lawsuit were so-called Caremark claims – lawsuits that say company leaders didn't do their job to keep the company out of legal trouble. Basically, shareholders argue the board ignored big warning signs or didn't set up any system to make sure the company followed the law. These cases are very hard to win because you have to prove the leaders acted in bad faith, not just made mistakes.

The allegations stemmed from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which involved the political consulting firm improperly collecting data from millions of Facebook users without their consent. This data was used to target voters during the 2016 US presidential election and other campaigns. The breach exposed major flaws in Facebook's data privacy practices and sparked global outrage. It led to investigations, significant fines – including a $5 billion penalty from the Federal Trade Commission – and raised awareness about how personal information is handled by social media platforms.

I think it's safe to say that it's all forgotten by now – forgotten by regular Facebook users, I mean. Zuck and co. will remember this little stunt for life.