Trial opens against Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other leaders over
Facebook privacy violations
[July 17, 2025] By
MARYCLAIRE DALE and BARBARA ORTUTAY
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — An $8 billion class action investors’ lawsuit
against Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and company leaders — current and
former — began Wednesday, with claims stemming from the 2018 privacy
scandal involving the Cambridge Analytica political consulting firm.
Investors allege in their lawsuit that Meta did not fully disclose the
risks that Facebook users’ personal information would be misused by
Cambridge Analytica, a firm that supported Donald Trump’s successful
Republican presidential campaign in 2016. Shareholders say Facebook
officials repeatedly and continually violated a 2012 consent order with
the Federal Trade Commission under which Facebook agreed to stop
collecting and sharing personal data on platform users and friends
without their consent.
Facebook later sold user data to commercial partners in direct violation
of the consent order and removed disclosures from privacy settings that
were required under consent order, the lawsuit alleges.
The fallout led to Facebook agreeing to pay a $5.1 billion penalty to
settle FTC charges. The social media giant also faced significant fines
in Europe and reached a $725 million privacy settlement with users. Now
shareholders want Zuckerberg and others to reimburse Meta for the FTC
fine and other legal costs, which the plaintiffs estimate total more
than $8 billion.
The first trial witness, privacy expert Neil Richards, testified Monday
morning for the shareholders.
“Facebook’s privacy disclosures were misleading,” said Richards, a
professor at Washington University Law School.
In later testimony, Jeffrey Zients, who served on Facebook’s board from
2018 to 2020, testified that consumer privacy and user data were
priorities for both management and the board.
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Former White House Chief of Staff Jeffrey Zients, center, arrives at
the Court of Chancery on Wednesday, July 16, 2025, in Wilmington,
Del. (AP Photo/Mingson Lau)
 Nonetheless, he supported settling
with the FTC as it investigated potential violations of the 2012
consent order, so the company could move forward.
“It was difficult because this was a lot of money, but I think it
was better than the alternative,” Zients said.
Asked if the board considered making its founder a party to the
settlement, he said Zuckerberg was “essential” to running the
company.
And, Zients, who served in both the Obama and Biden administrations,
said, "there was no indication that he had done anything wrong.”
The case is expected to run through late next week and include
testimony from both Zuckerberg and former Chief Operating Officer
Sheryl Sandberg. Other witnesses expected in Delaware Chancery
Court, where Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. is incorporated,
include board member Marc Andreessen and former board member Peter
Thiel. The judge is not expected to rule for several months.
Meta had hoped the Supreme Court would dismiss the case. Justices
heard arguments in November before deciding they should not have
taken it up. The high court dismissed the company’s appeal, leaving
in place an appellate ruling allowing the case to go forward.
—
Ortutay reported from San Francisco.
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