Lawsuit Seeks SEC Disclosure of Information Redacted from Mark Zuckerberg SEC Deposition Testimony Transcript
RFOB Policy Advisory Calls for Un-redacted Testimony; Initial Transcript Shows Zuckerberg May Have Misled Congress
13 June 2023 — A leading youth tech advocate continued his fight today to obtain Facebook (now, Meta) CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s SEC deposition testimony. A heavily redacted version of the transcript released in December revealed that Zuckerberg may have lied to Congress about critical details around his role in the Cambridge Analytica data scandal.
In today’s filing in federal district court, policy advisor for the Real Facebook Oversight Board and American University student Zamaan Qureshi seeks to compel the SEC to release information wrongfully redacted from the transcript. Qureshi, who is represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group, has been seeking Zuckerberg’s testimony for over one and a half years.
“We know already from a partial transcript that Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook appeared to mislead Congress and the public in one of the most shocking data breaches in history — one with dire consequences for Facebook users and for democracy,” Qureshi said. “We need to know the truth, and a full accounting of how Mark Zuckerberg has tried to shield Facebook from accountability.”
In March 2018, The Guardian and The New York Times reported that Cambridge Analytica had been sold and obtained the personal data of tens of millions of Facebook users. Later, it was reported that the personal data of up to 87 million Facebook users had been collected by Cambridge Analytica. As part of its investigation into Facebook in connection with the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, the SEC deposed Mr. Zuckerberg in February 2019.
Qureshi first requested the SEC deposition transcript in late November of 2021; after multiple delays and an initial denial of his request, where the SEC refused even to acknowledge that the transcript existed, Qureshi filed a successful administrative appeal. On December 7, 2022, the SEC released to him a redacted transcript of Zuckerberg’s deposition testimony. The transcript was a bombshell, showing Mark Zuckerberg personally knew far more about Cambridge Analytica and knew it much earlier than ever admitted — and then he’d told Congress. But there were significant redactions. Qureshi then filed another administrative appeal, which resulted in a decision directing the SEC to reconsider the redactions.
While the SEC has insisted redactions are necessary to protect confidential and private information, the complaint notes that a number of the redactions clearly withheld information that had been publicly reported in the news media or was the subject of publicly available congressional testimony.
“Cambridge Analytica revealed personal information about 87 million people — 87 million — and that data was weaponized for political gain,” said Qureshi. “To stop the next breach tomorrow, and to ensure accountability is real, we can’t have any more secrets. We ought to know what Mark Zuckerberg told the SEC, and whether it squares with his public statements worldwide.”
“The SEC’s withholding of information from the transcript of Zuckerberg’s SEC deposition testimony violates FOIA,” said Wendy Liu, lead counsel for Qureshi and a lawyer at Public Citizen Litigation Group. “As the SEC itself has twice recognized, in ruling for Qureshi on both of his administrative appeals, Qureshi is entitled to additional information from the transcript. This lawsuit asks the Court to compel the SEC to do just that.”
You can read the full complaint here. For media inquiries please contact media@the-citizens.com.
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The Real Facebook Oversight Board is an emergency response to the ongoing harms on Facebook’s platforms from leading global scholars, experts, and advocates.
