Meta Agrees to $190M Settlement Over Shareholder Privacy Lawsuit Claims
Meta Platforms Inc. will pay $190 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit alleging executives failed to protect user privacy, marking the second-largest U.S. settlement for board oversight failures. The Delaware agreement involves CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other leaders, stemming from years of legal scrutiny tied to Facebook's data misuse.
The case echoes the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where millions of user profiles were harvested without consent. Meta's $5 billion FTC fine in 2019 set a precedent for regulatory consequences, and this settlement reinforces mounting pressure on tech giants to prioritize data governance.
While Meta commits to policy reforms addressing director conduct and whistleblower protections, enforcement mechanisms remain opaque. The resolution coincides with intensified FTC scrutiny across the sector, signaling higher stakes for proactive compliance measures.
