Facebook increasingly finds itself in hot water around the world for its privacy and data practices. And the temperature got turned up even higher this week when the state of California (and Facebook’s home base) announced it’s in the midst of an 18-month investigation into the social media giant. The state’s attorney general also blasted the company for failing to comply with the privacy probe.

The investigation first began in 2018 in response to the Cambridge Analytica data breach scandal. However, it has since expanded to determine whether Facebook has violated California law and deceived users by allowing third parties to access data.

For its part, Facebook contested the accusation that it isn’t cooperating, but the attorney general’s office responded with a list of 25 requests that the company has declined to answer. According to Attorney General Xavier Becerra, that left him with no option but to take the matter public.

“If Facebook had complied with our legitimate investigative requests, we would not be making this announcement today. But we must move our investigation forward. We are left with little choice,” Becerra told reporters.

Facebook is used to legal challenges abroad and in other states, but this is one of the first major threats to come from the state it calls home. This litigation is bound to get messy, but at least it’s another example of lawmakers standing up for peoples’ online privacy.

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