Meta to Pay $725M over Cambridge Analytica Lawsuit

Meta agreed to pay $725.00 million in settlement over the years-long class action lawsuit with Cambridge Analytica.

In 2018, there was disclosure of shared user data on Facebook’s parent company with the consulting firm, proven used for political advertising.

The latest settlement would not include an admission of misconduct on Meta’s part. Besides, it still needs approval from the federal judges in the Northern District of California.

Based on the settlement document, the $725.00 million is the largest charge in a data privacy class action case. Also, it is the largest amount Meta has paid to resolve a lawsuit.

Initially, Cambridge Analytica prompted the case as it revealed that Facebook shared data on 87 million users. This scandal gained considerable attention due to the involvement of the consulting firm with Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump’s team used the data of millions of American users from Meta for the purpose of voter profiling and targeting. Hence, this issue fueled government investigations into its privacy practices. It was followed by lawsuits and a high-profile US congressional hearing involving CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

In 2019, Meta agreed to pay $5.00 billion to resolve a Federal Trade Commission probe into its privacy practices. Also, it atoned $100.00 million to settle the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s claims of misleading investors reading the misuse of users’ data.

Zuckerberg to Split Meta

Meta Platforms is joined by two entities, tied together by the potential to sell advertising.

The operator of Facebook and Instagram is expected to become less of a cash machine as prominent marketers tighten pocketbooks in 2023. This projection is gauged to pluck Zuckerberg’s pet project, The Metaverse, away from the rest of the business.

In December, a high-profile trial between the US Federal Trade Commission and Meta began. This probe is regarding the company’s deal to purchase the virtual reality developer “Within.”

If Meta is a smaller firm or The Metaverse is a separate entity, it might attract little attention. Hence, it is the reason for the planned split.