Facebook emails could show CEO Mark Zuckerberg knew of privacy issues, report says
It's another potential black eye for the company.
Facebook is already under fire over privacy issues and said users shouldn't have an expectation of privacy on social media. A new report says emails found as part of a government investigation might show that the company's CEO was aware of certain questionable practices.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly did know of the company's questionable privacy practices according to The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. Sources familiar with the company say emails obtained as part of a Federal Trade Commission investigation show the link and could be harmful to the company's reputation.
The social media platform denies the existence of the emails.
"We have fully cooperated with the FTC's investigation to date and provided tens of thousands of documents, emails and files," a Facebook spokesperson said in an emailed statement. "At no point did Mark [Zuckerberg] or any other Facebook employee knowingly violate the company's obligations under the FTC consent order, nor do any emails exist that indicate they did."
Facebook became a target of the FTC in 2018 after the Cambridge Analytica scandal revealed that as many as 87 million users' data was sold to the UK firm. This breach violated a 2011 settlement made with the government agency that would require Facebook to receive user approval before selling any data.