In 2018, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified at a Senate hearing following the Cambridge Analytica scandal. During the hearing, Zuckerberg replied to most of the questions as “my team will get back to you”, which raised several question marks in this case.
Mark Zuckerberg has to testify again
After four years, Zuckerberg will once again take the floor due to the insufficient answers he gave to the questions before the Senate. Accordingly, Zuckerberg will have to testify again for 6 hours.
Alongside Zuckerberg, former Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and Meta’s Executive Vice President of Growth Javier Olivan will also be called to testify. All statements are scheduled to be received by September 20, 2022.
Plaintiffs also request important additional documents and information about third parties from Facebook. In addition, Facebook’s financial documents are also among the files requested by the plaintiffs. Meta, on the other hand, avoids questions and qualifies requested documents as junk files.
The Guardian notes that “this is the first case to include extensive statements from senior Facebook executives” and “could reveal new details in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.” The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Facebook users, seeks damages of $5 million, a small amount compared to the $5 billion penalty Facebook paid the Federal Trade Commission.
It is stated that Facebook has agreed to pay such a high compensation to prevent Zuckerbeg from receiving further official investigation on this issue. However, even the payment of $5 billion in compensation does not seem to have saved Zuckerberg from a new lawsuit.
In the coming months, the scale of the event will become clear in line with the statements Zuckerberg and other executives will give to the Senate. As it is known, it has been revealed that Cambridge Analytica has collected the personal data of approximately 50 million Facebook users since 2014 and used to influence the opinion of the voters on behalf of politicians. After that, Facebook had to pay $5 billion in damages while apologizing to its users.
How do you think this case will turn out? Can you share your views with us in the comments section?
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