Mark Zuckerberg in court: The biggest lawsuits that put the Meta CEO under fire

Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO of Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook), is one of the most powerful figures in the tech industry.

With his company’s platforms — Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger — used by billions of people worldwide, the tech billionaire has become a central figure in conversations about social media’s role in politics, privacy, and society at large.

But with great influence comes great scrutiny. Over the years, Zuckerberg has been named in multiple lawsuits.

These lawsuits collectively paint a picture of a CEO caught in the crosshairs of global debates over privacy, accountability, and corporate responsibility.

Below is a detailed look at the most significant lawsuits against Mark Zuckerberg.

2025 Meta shareholder lawsuit

The most high-profile case against Zuckerberg came in July 2025, when Meta shareholders launched an $8 billion lawsuit against him and other company executives.

The case centered on claims that Meta had violated a 2012 agreement with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) by continuing to mishandle user data.

Shareholders alleged that Facebook (now Meta) knowingly allowed third parties to illegally harvest and share users’ personal data, including in connection with the notorious Cambridge Analytica scandal.

The non-jury trial was set before Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathaleen McCormick, with prominent witnesses such as Jeffrey Zients, former White House chief of staff, expected to testify.

However, just as the trial was about to intensify, Zuckerberg and the plaintiffs reached a confidential settlement.

2024 child safety lawsuits

Another major set of cases came in 2024, when Meta faced more than two dozen lawsuits accusing the company of fueling social media addiction among children and teens.

Parents, school districts, and advocacy groups claimed that Facebook and Instagram knowingly harmed young users by designing platforms that exacerbated anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues.

The lawsuits also alleged that Zuckerberg himself was the “guiding spirit” behind Meta’s concealment of the risks.

Plaintiffs argued that Meta deliberately misled the public by downplaying the dangers of excessive social media use.

However, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Zuckerberg could not be held personally liable in these cases.

2021 District of Columbia lawsuit

Long before the 2025 trial, Zuckerberg was targeted by Washington D.C.’s Attorney General Karl Racine.

In 2021, Racine filed a lawsuit to hold Zuckerberg personally liable for Facebook’s role in enabling Cambridge Analytica to improperly collect data from millions of US users during the 2016 election cycle.

The lawsuit alleged that Zuckerberg was not merely a bystander but actively shaped company policies that allowed the data firm to access sensitive voter information without consent.

The harvested data was later used for political profiling, raising alarm over Facebook’s role in influencing US democracy.

This marked one of the earliest attempts to pierce the corporate shield and tie Zuckerberg personally to Meta’s privacy scandals, underscoring how regulators sought to hold tech executives individually accountable.