Meta's Zuckerberg, Sandberg to be questioned by lawyers in privacy lawsuit
The privacy class action lawsuit alleges Meta shared user data illegally, including with Cambridge Analytica
Meta Platforms Inc chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg and outgoing chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg will be deposed as part of San Francisco federal court litigation over the Cambridge Analytica data sharing scandal.
Lawyers for both sides have agreed that attorneys can depose Zuckerberg for six hours and Sandberg for five hours as part of the lawsuit, according to a joint filing late Tuesday.
Javier Olivan, the company's chief growth officer who will replace Sandberg as COO will also be questioned for three hours.
The proposed class action lawsuit alleges Facebook violated consumer privacy laws by sharing users' personal data with now-defunct British political consultancy Cambridge Analytica and others.
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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his company Meta's logo. (Getty Images | istock / Getty Images)
A Facebook spokesperson declined to comment and the company's outside lawyers from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs at Keller Rohrback and Bleichmar Fonti & Auld declined to comment.
Facebook has said of the underlying lawsuit that its privacy practices are consistent with its disclosures and "do not support any legal claims."
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Sheryl Sandberg Addresses U.S. Conference Of Mayors in Boston, Massachusetts. (Paul Marotta/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The plaintiffs' lawyers recently filed a sanctions motion seeking $854,000 in fees and costs from Facebook, Gibson Dunn and the firm's lead partner in the case, Orin Snyder. The company and firm in a response filing said there has been no sanctionable conduct.
At least one other recent plaintiffs' effort to force Zuckerberg to answer attorney questions tied to the Cambridge Analytica scandal failed.
The nameplate of political consultancy, Cambridge Analytica, is seen in central London. (REUTERS/Henry Nicholls / Reuters Photos)
The D.C. attorney general's office, in its own lawsuit against the social media company, sought to question Zuckerberg about Facebook's data privacy practices. Facebook's lawyers argued the District's effort was a "transparent attempt to harass." A D.C. superior court judge in March rejected the bid.
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Depositions in the case are scheduled through Sept. 20.
Reuters contributed to this report.