Technology

Meta has been accused of harvesting user data without consent in a multi-billion-dollar lawsuit by company shareholders against chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.

The case dates back to a 2018 scandal, which saw the data of millions of Facebook users accessed by a now-defunct political consulting firm.

The firm, Cambridge Analytica, worked for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

Now, Meta shareholders are suing Mr Zuckerberg and several current and former company executives, claiming they violated a 2012 agreement to protect user data.

They want Mr Zuckerberg and his co-defendants to reimburse the company for more than $US8 billion ($12.2 billion) in fines and other costs Meta paid following the controversy.

Mr Zuckerberg has dismissed the allegations in court filings as "extreme claims".

Jeannie Paterson, who specialises in consumer protection and AI regulation, said the lawsuit was "unusual".

"This is an action by some minority shareholders against the company they hold shares on, and they're saying that the bad behaviour of the company … would have caused them loss, for which they should be compensated for by the directors," Professor Paterson, from the University of Melbourne, said.