In light of Facebook’s recent privacy infraction that became a global upset, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the social media platform are sitting down to negotiate a multi-billion dollar fine.
Said to total as the biggest penalty imposed on a technology firm, the fine “would amount to a reckoning for Facebook in the United States after a series of privacy lapses that may have put the personal information of its users at risk,” the Washington Post reported. They continued, “Lawmakers have faulted the company for mishandling that data while failing to crack down on other digital ills, including the rise of online hate speech and the spread of disinformation from Russian operatives and other foreign actors.”
Democratic Sen Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) spoke on the issue, stating, “Facebook faces a moment of reckoning and the only way it will come is through an FTC order with severe penalties and other sanctions that stop this kind of privacy misconduct going forward.”
Prior to the incident, the largest fine ordered by the FTC was a whopping $22.5 million against Google due to “misrepresenting the extent to which consumers can exercise control over the collection of their information.”
