Facebook paid premium to the fine to keep it low and Zuckerberg safe

After the big privacy scandal with Cambridge Analytica, Facebook would have paid much more to the US trade watchdog FTC to protect founder Mark Zuckerberg. That’s what new lawsuits filed against Facebook claim.

Originally, the fine for users ‘privacy violations was $106 million. However, Facebook eventually settled for 5 billion dollars, not to be held personally liable.

The lawsuits were filed in the U.S. State of Delaware by two groups of shareholders. The claims are based on Facebook’s internal documents, which date from the period between 2013 and 2019.

The documents would show that Facebook directors, including Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, paid the FTC billions extra in “explicit consideration” that Zuckerberg would not be held personally liable.

US trade watchdog FTC and Facebook settled $ 5 billion in July 2019 for multiple user privacy violations. This happened after the personal data of 87 million Facebook users worldwide were shared with Cambridge Analytica without permission.The court documents state that of the 87 million affected users, only 270,000 people had given permission to use the data (0.31 percent of the total). Facebook would also have known that the data was being shared and several employees expressed their concerns at the time.

According to the prosecutors, Zuckerberg also wants to answer for “false and misleading answers” he gave to the U.S. Congress when he was questioned about privacy scandals. Zuckerberg said that users decide what data they share, but later gave some companies an exception to access the data.

In the claims, top people within Facebook are also accused of trading shares with insider knowledge. That way they would have made “hundreds of millions of dollars” together. Facebook hasn’t responded to the charges yet.


About the author: Mia Patel

Mia Patel is a investigative journalist with a passion for unveiling the truth behind complex security breaches. With a background in investigative reporting and a knack for meticulous research, Mia has a track record of exposing corporate misconduct, government cover-ups, and online scams.

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