DC attorney general sues Facebook over Cambridge Analytica scandal

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(Image credit: Alexander Koerner / Stringer/ Getty Images)

Facebook's week has gone from bad to worse.

Following a report that the social media giant gave more than 150 companies special access to users' personal information, Facebook is being sued by D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, writes The Washington Post. This is over a different privacy scandal: the revelations earlier this year that a political consulting firm, Cambridge Analytica, improperly accessed users' personal information.

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Racine confirmed the Post's report in a statement, saying the suit is about "making Facebook live up to its promise to protect its users' privacy.”

Facebook has not yet responded, but the Post notes that this is the first example of U.S. regulatory action being taken against the company since the scandal was first reported, although there's also a federal investigation underway. CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized to users when he testified before Congress in October, telling lawmakers, "It was my mistake, and I'm sorry." Facebook just recently revealed that a bug also gave some apps access to photos that users had not publicly shared; this affected up to 6.8 million users. "We're sorry this happened," Facebook said.

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.