SEC deposition: Mark Zuckerberg considered disclosing in 2017 that Facebook was investigating “organizations like Cambridge Analytica”, but advisers said not to

CNN 2022-12-21 Brian Fung

Context & Ripple Effects

The deposition adds an internal decision point to Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica timeline. Related coverage had already reported that a Facebook director met with Christopher Wylie in 2016 and that Facebook later said the data collection may have reached as many as 87 million people.

It also sits alongside reports that Facebook found emails during its FTC response that appeared to show Zuckerberg knew of problematic privacy practices. The new account identifies adviser counsel as part of the company’s earlier disclosure calculus.

First-order effects

Zuckerberg’s deposition places Facebook advisers’ recommendation against disclosure into the SEC’s account of how the company handled its investigation of organizations like Cambridge Analytica.
The testimony sharpens the record around the gap between Facebook’s 2017 internal consideration and its later public response to the data-use scandal.

Second-order effects

Facebook’s prior communications and leadership decisions receive greater scrutiny when read alongside the emails reportedly uncovered during the FTC response, rather than as isolated reactions to the scandal.
The account reinforces why Zuckerberg faced external demands to explain Facebook’s handling of Cambridge Analytica, including the UK Parliament’s call for his testimony.

Third-order effects

If disclosure decisions increasingly become part of enforcement records, platform privacy governance will be judged not only on data controls but also on what executives knew and when they chose to inform users and regulators.

The trend: Platform-data scandals are broadening oversight from the underlying misuse of personal information to executives’ internal decisions about disclosure.

Discussion

@aoc Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on x
The timeline of when Zuckerberg became aware of Cambridge Analytica and their election efforts is a matter of extraordinary importance. That's why I questioned him about it. His testimony to Congress said March 2018. Newly exposed documents reveal he knew as early as Jan 2017. ht…
@zamaan_qureshi Zamaan Qureshi on x
Two other interesting notes. 1⃣ Mark Zuckerberg forgot how to spell his own middle name. 2⃣ Sheryl Sandberg was also likely deposed by the Commission. https://twitter.com/...
@zamaan_qureshi Zamaan Qureshi on x
The draft shows that Facebook decided against the inclusion of Cambridge Analytica in his speech in Sep 2017 about Russian intel's use of Facebook, after Zuckerberg previously wrote it in. Here's a side-by-side of the transcript vs. what he said in 2017. https://twitter.com/...
@ianclucas Ian Lucas on x
Zuckerberg also misled the UK Parliament, refused to give evidence to @CommonsDCMS and has not visited the UK since. On the run. https://twitter.com/...
@zamaan_qureshi Zamaan Qureshi on x
New via @CNN/@Reuters: After a year, I obtained Mark Zuckerberg's 2019 deposition with the @SECGov via #FOIA. It reveals Zuckerberg held back on naming Cambridge Analytica in a 2017 Facebook live speech, on par with the threat level of Russian intel on FB. https://www.cnn.com/...
@profcarroll David Carroll on x
Now we know that Zuck knew more about #CambridgeAnalytica than he revealed to Congress thanks to transcripts FOIA'd by @zamaan_qureshi https://www.reuters.com/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
Sweating bullets... but it appears the SEC let him off in tandem to the $5 billion settlement with the FTC. Neither complaint naming him personally as he was in the original preliminary FTC complaint according to the Delaware discovery. https://twitter.com/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
This is also interesting. “I don't remember” is a very difficult answer to believe from Mark Zuckerberg when asked whether prior to 2018 he could think of any other times user data was sold or transferred from one of their “developers” to another party. /2 https://twitter.com/...
@zamaan_qureshi Zamaan Qureshi on x
This raises questions about Zuckerberg's testimony to Rep. @AOC back in 2019 where he testified he found out about Cambridge Analytica in March 2018, but then walked back his answer. See below. https://twitter.com/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
Mark Zuckerberg misspelled his own name in the first couple minutes of a secret and highly sensitive deposition by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2019. It took two years and questionable testimony to AOC before we would learn about it. /1 https://twitter.com/... https:…
@ilvestoomas @ilvestoomas on x
Gotta love 'em. All the sophomoric gobbeldygook pretending to philosophy we put up from this guy and now this. https://www.reuters.com/...
@michaelduncan Michael Duncan on x
Cambridge Analytica was snake oil pumped up by libs as some nefarious plot that made Hillary lose. They coped so hard they nearly ruined the internet for political campaigns. 6 years later and they still can't quit lol https://twitter.com/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
btw, to everyone who has ever reported on this incident choosing not to use the word “sold” in describing how the data was delivered to Cambridge Analytica (and had me criticizing FB PR spin for rewriting history), Zuckerberg under oath to the freaking SEC. Maybe fix it. /3 https…
@kat_says_stuff Kat on x
So Zuck knew basically as soon as Trump was inaugurated and just 6 months after brexit and did nothing until the whistle blowers called him out https://twitter.com/...
@econliberties @econliberties on x
🚨 NEWS: Documents just released by the SEC suggest Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg perjured himself before Congress in 2019. Just a reminder: Perjury is still a crime, even when Mark Zuckerberg does it. https://twitter.com/...
@pt Parker on x
Holy crap, we are still talking about the period where FB ran a public API everybody was aware of and thought was a sign the open internet had won before we decided FB was a threat to democracy and open APIs are the devil but so are proprietary monopolies? https://twitter.com/...
@peard33 Paresh Dave on x
And here is the deposition, which @zamaan_qureshi also independently sought out and obtained after a tweet last year by @jason_kint pointing out the existence of the deposition https://the-citizens.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@leehepner Lee Hepner on x
This is a big hit early on for the FTC, which has been fighting against the notion that Meta is incapable of building apps in-house. Zuckerberg seems to have more confidence in Meta's aptitude here than the case his counsel has been presenting. https://twitter.com/...
@wsjtech @wsjtech on x
The FTC is seeking to prevent Facebook's parent from acquiring Within Unlimited, the company behind virtual-reality fitness game “Supernatural” https://www.wsj.com/...
@carlszabo Carl Szabo on x
As Zuckerberg shows, this was about improving VR for all. At the same time, @Meta competes with @Steam, @HP, @microsoft, and @Sony in the VR space, just to name a few competitors.
@carlszabo Carl Szabo on x
Since the @FTC claims to be “underfunded” it should dropping this loser lawsuit and return to doing its job - protecting consumers. The @FTC has sole enforcement of Do Not Call it must stop the robocalls that make our phones unusable not waste our money on this witch-hunt.
@leehepner Lee Hepner on x
FTC: “What did you mean by using acquisitions opportunistically?” Zuckerberg: “I meant this to say that we build most of the apps ourselves.” FTC: “Facebook was and still is a very strong software company, correct?” Zuckerberg: “I think so.”
@sheeraf Sheera Frenkel on x
This is an aside, but what has come through in this Meta vs. FTC trial is how clearly Zuckerberg doesn't want to find himself in the position he is in today, running his software on someone else's hardware. He wants to be the Apple of the metaverse (insert railroad analogy).
@washingtonpost @washingtonpost on x
Mark Zuckerberg defended Meta's reliance on acquisitions to build out virtual reality. “Fitness was probably the 4th or 5th use case that I thought would be important,” he said, adding that gaming, social and productivity categories would rank higher. https://www.washingtonpost.c…
@leehepner Lee Hepner on x
This was dodgy of Zuckerberg, and misinterpreted a bit here. Social is not a distinct category. It is an overlay of game and fitness categories. The social aspect of fitness (live & group classes, other network effects) has been much discussed here. https://www.nytimes.com/... ht…
@pkafka Peter Kafka on x
In an alternate timeline Twitter is just a messaging app we complain about using all the time, and we are all very interested in Mark Zuckberg taking the stand in a Lina Khan antitrust case. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@sheeraf Sheera Frenkel on x
Our story on Zuckerberg's testimony on the FTC/Within trial is up: https://www.nytimes.com/... We'll be updating as the day goes on.
@doratki Dorothy Atkins on x
Good morning from San Jose! I'm waiting outside Judge Ed Davila's courtroom to cover the last day of the high-stakes hearing over the FTC's bid to block Meta's merger with VR app maker Within. Mark Zuckerberg just walked down the hallway. Looks like he'll be taking the stand.
@sheeraf Sheera Frenkel on x
In San Jose today, waiting for Mark Zuckerberg to appear to give his testimony on the FTC/Meta/Within trial. I'll be filing to the NYT first (hi editors) but will follow with tweets.
@leehepner Lee Hepner on x
Good morning from San Jose. The FTC just called Mark Zuckerberg to the stand. This is the final day of hearings in the FTC's effort to enjoin Meta's acquisition of VR app-maker Within. I'll be posting updates as we go. https://twitter.com/...
@adamkovac Adam Kovacevich on x
Yes, the FTC *is* arguing that Meta is “monopolizing” a nascent space in which it lost $9.4B this year https://twitter.com/...
@leehepner Lee Hepner on x
Reality Labs numbers from Meta's 10Q being read into the record: - $3.97B in cost expenses in 2022 Q3, a 23% increase over 2021 - Revenues of $1.4B for Q1-Q3 of 2022 - Total losses = $9.4B in first 3Q's of 2022 - Over $10.8B in costs and expenses so far in 2022.

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