Mark Zuckerberg vs Meta shareholders in $8 billion trial: Read the list of high-profile executives named in this case

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, is set to appear this week as a key witness in an $8 billion trial. He stands accused of operating Facebook as an illegal enterprise that allowed widespread harvesting of user data without consent, news agency Reuters reported. Shareholders of the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, have sued Zuckerberg and other current and former company leaders, claiming these individuals consistently violated a 2012 agreement with the

Federal Trade Commission

(FTC) designed to protect user data.The lawsuit stems from the 2018

Cambridge Analytica scandal

, where data from millions of Facebook users was accessed by the now-defunct political consulting firm that worked for Donald Trump's 2016 US presidential campaign. Shareholders are seeking reimbursement for over $8 billion in fines and costs Meta incurred due to the scandal, including a record $5 billion fine from the FTC in 2019 for breaching the 2012 agreement.Defendants in the case include former Chief Operating Officer

Sheryl Sandberg

, venture capitalist and board member Marc Andreessen, and former board members Peter Thiel (Palantir Technologies co-founder) and Reed Hastings (Netflix co-founder).

Specifically, Zuckerberg and Sandberg are accused of knowingly causing the company to violate the law.

Zuckerberg dismisses ‘extreme claims’

Zuckerberg and the other defendants have dismissed the allegations in court filings as "extreme claims." The non-jury trial begins on Wednesday (July 16) in Wilmington, Delaware, and is scheduled to last eight days. It will primarily focus on events and board meetings from a decade ago to determine how Facebook leaders implemented the 2012 agreement.While the trial addresses past policies, it comes as Meta continues to face intense scrutiny over privacy concerns, particularly regarding its training of AI models. Meta asserts it has invested billions since 2019 in programmes to safeguard user privacy.Two years ago, the defendants tried to get the case dismissed, but the judge, Travis Laster, denied the request, calling it "a case involving alleged wrongdoing on a truly colossal scale." The trial will now be overseen by Judge Kathaleen McCormick in the Court of Chancery.Defendants maintain that the plaintiffs lack sufficient evidence to prove their claims. Conversely, shareholders, in pretrial court papers, argue they can show that Facebook continued deceptive privacy practices under Zuckerberg's direction after the 2012 agreement.