DOVER, Del. — A Delaware judge is ordering Facebook to turn over internal records regarding data privacy and access to user data.

Thursday's ruling involves an investor lawsuit seeking company records to investigate potential wrongdoing and mismanagement by Facebook directors regarding data privacy breaches.

The lawsuit followed reports that the data of more than 50 million Facebook users had been misappropriated without their knowledge by British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica in 2015. At the time of the Cambridge Analytica breach, Facebook was subject to a consent decree involving the Federal Trade Commission's determination that its data privacy measures were not adequate.

The judge rejected Facebook's argument that the plaintiffs had not stated a proper purpose for inspecting company records or demonstrated a credible basis to infer that board directors breached their duties.