One question that has long linger among those involved in Facebook ’s Cambridge Analytica scandal is : when did top fellowship EXEC know about the UK company building psychological profiles of U.S. drug user , and why did they take so long to do something about it ?
Zamaan Qureshi , an American University student and tech insurance policy wonk , submitted a Freedom of Information Act requestto the Securities and Exchange Commission and received swear testimony from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg from 2019 . Thedocumentreveals that back in 2017 , Zuckerberg had in the beginning considered reporting in a speech that his company , then just called Facebook , was reckon into particular about Cambridge Analytica . It contradicts testimony Zuckerberg gave in front of Congress and may add more fuel to the fire of ongoing lawsuits .
For those who need a refresher , in the belated 2010s Meta come under fire for share tens of billion of user ’ personal info with the British political consulting company Cambridge Analytica . The fellowship allegedly used this data to construct psychological profile of U.S. voter to help the presidential campaign of Sen. Ted Cruz during the 2016 election and subsequently former President Donald Trump .
Mark Zuckerberg, shown here during an interview at the 2022 New York Times DealBook Summit, has avoided depositions in lawsuits regarding the massive Cambridge Analytica scandal.Photo: Thos Robinson (Getty Images)
Zuckerberg ’s SEC deposition first mentions a serial of articles from Motherboard culminate in abombshell reportpublished in January , 2017 . When asked if that was the first metre he heard about Cambridge Analytica , the CEO answer :
“ my guess is I heard of them before . And that this was after run across a mates of mentions of what they were claiming to do , I want to ask people who I entrust what their assessment was . ”
The document reveals a unlike timeline of events than what Zuckerberg used in testimony made in front of Congress back in 2019 . In reaction to enquiry from congressional representatives about when he knew something was foreign with Cambridge Analytica , Zuckerberg responded :
Screenshot: The Real Facebook Oversight Board
“ I ’m not sure the accurate prison term , but it was probably around the clip when it became public , I mean it was around March of 2018 . I could be wrong . ”
Thequestions by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortezfurther grill Zuckerberg on when any of his leadership squad became aware of Cambridge Analytica , particularly since there were theme from The Guardiandating back to 2015 . The Meta CEO said “ I ’m certain some folks were tracking it internally , ” then he revised his earlier instruction saying “ I do think I was aware of Cambridge Analytica as an entity before , I just do n’t know if I was tracking how they were using Facebook specifically . ”
The SEC deposition also note that Zuckerberg had originally intended to tell Facebook users they were looking into Cambridge Analytica as early as 2017 . In a 2017 speech communication Zuckerberg made to Facebook users regarding allegement of Russian misinformation and election meddling campaigns , the Facebook CEOsaid :
“ We will continue our investigation into what happened on Facebook in this election . We may get hold more , and if we do , we will carry on to form with the government . We are looking into foreign actors , including additional Russian groups and other former Soviet states , as well as arrangement like the hunting expedition , to further our understanding of how they used our tool . These investigation will take some time , but we will go on our thorough review . ”
However , harmonise to the document , an early draft of that same address said :
“ We are already looking into extraneous actors admit Russian intelligence actors in other Soviet state of matter and organizations like Cambridge Analytica . ”
Zuckerberg did claim he did n’t be intimate about Facebook ’s political advertising squad raising concern about Cambridge Analytica before The Guardian ’s 2015 clause . However , Facebook did n’t shun the UK political consulting firm even after that report came out , something Zuckerberg called “ a error , ” adding his company “ did n’t tie in the back breaker . ” What dots the company should have link were unfortunately redact from the document .
There are two ongoing lawsuit centered around Cambridge Analytica . Onelawsuit on behalf of shareholdersin Delaware over alleged “ illegal business pattern . ” in the first place this year , lawcourt documents showed Meta hadagreed to settlethe course activity lawsuit charge on behalf of Facebook exploiter alleging consumer fraud and neglect . Some reporters deeply into the Cambridge Analytica outrage noted it might have been an effort to stop Zuckerberg from being deposed .
In an electronic mail affirmation , a Meta spokesperson evidence Gizmodo “ This has been a finalise case for over three long time . ” The ship’s company also relate to a 2019agreementthe companionship made with the Federal Trade Commission where the companyagreed to pay a $ 5 billion penalization .
Qureshi is a policy advisor for The Real Facebook Oversight Board , an unaffiliated protagonism radical shape as the kind of antithesis to Meta ’s own — somewhat main — Oversight Board .
Update 12/20/22 at 10 p.m. ET : This Emily Post was updated to correct the reference to the shareholder lawsuit against Meta .
Cambridge AnalyticaComputingDonald TrumpFacebookMark Zuckerbergsoftware
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